Over to you LRTAWA by David Fyfe, President, Livestock and Rural Transport Association of Western Australia (Inc)
IS OUR O SUPPLY CHAIN SECURE?
ne thing the last couple of years has taught us is that Australia’s isolation is a double-edged sword. On the one hand our island status arguably gave us a comparative advantage in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. It enabled us to close off from the rest of world and bought us time to prepare. That very same isolation however, highlighted our vulnerability to global and domestic supply chain disruptions. The AdBlue shortage that came to a head in December last year is a case in point. China, the major supplier of the technical grade granular urea which makes up AdBlue, halted exports of the product leaving Australia with an estimated five weeks’ supply. As we all know, without Adblue most of our trucks would grind to a standstill. Food would not be delivered, medical supplies would not be delivered,
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WATM • April 2022
fuel could not be supplied and supermarket shelves would soon empty. The urgency of the situation initially seemed to fall on deaf ears, but it was eventually recognised as a crisis and the federal government moved into action. Interim supplies were secured from other countries as a short-term fix and a deal was made with Incitec Pivot to manufacture technical grade urea in Queensland. Whilst a lifeline was found and supplies flowed again, it did not happen without a huge price spike and shortages in many regional centres. Prices in many areas have not reduced significantly since the crisis and as a nation we are no closer to secure supplies. What happens if Incitec Pivot decides it doesn’t fit their business plan to continue to manufacture technical grade urea, or the manufacturing process is cost prohibitive
