<Anchor>



There are concerns that trucks may stop due to insufficient number of elements, which are essential for diesel vehicles, but no proper measures are being taken. Even urea used as a raw material for agricultural fertilizers as well as for vehicles is insufficient.



Reporter Han Sang-woo reports.



<Reporter> In



a used trading app, a 10-liter bottle of urea water, which was around 10,000 won a month ago, has risen to a maximum of 200,000 won.



Even at such a high price, it is difficult to even find it on the Internet or at a gas station.



[Gas station official: I can't give it to people who usually come. All (sale) is already over.] When the



number of urea drops, the speed of the truck decreases to around 10 km and eventually stops, raising concerns about logistics costs.



[Truck driver: I went to three gas stations, but I couldn't find any now. (When urea runs out) We just stop, they say they can't.]



Urea is made by extracting ammonia from coal or LNG, but there is no place in Korea to make it because the production balance does not match.



More than half of the urea imported last year, and almost all of the urea production for vehicles is made in China, but the shortage of urea is a global situation, making it very difficult to divert imports to other countries.



[Responsible for urea water producer: In the case of Russia, what we ordered in October came in January, so... .]



There is also an opinion to make urea water by using agricultural or industrial urea as soon as possible, but industrial use is low in purity, and agricultural use is not realistic because it is coated with formaldehyde, a carcinogen.



A bigger problem is that agricultural use is already in short supply, which will hurt fertilizer production as well.



[Fertilizer company official: At the beginning of this year (per ton) it was 270 dollars and 280 dollars.

If I keep going like this, I think farmers will be upset because there is no fertilizer in February and March of next year.] The



shortage of urea from China is casting dark clouds not only in logistics but also in agriculture and other industries.



(Video editing: Lee Seung-yeol, VJ: Jung Min-goo)