Abu Dhabi-based Fertiglobe, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and chemical producer OCI, said it will produce diesel exhaust fuel (DEF) from its Egyptian Fertilizer Co.(EFC) facility in Egypt in Q4 2022, as it looks to diversify its product offerings.

Trial shipments will be marketed by OCI in Europe, the fertilisers and clean ammonia products maker, said in a statement on Thursday.

DEF, also known as AdBlue in Europe, is a urea solution used to reduce environmentally harmful vehicle exhaust NOx

emissions from diesel engines. Demand is supported by increasingly stricter emission regulations in Europe and a scarcity of the product.

Fertiglobe has the capacity to produce 0.5 million tonnes of DEF at its Egypt factory and at the Fertil facility in the UAE. Fertil currently produces a small amount of DEF to serve local demand, “and both facilities being able to quickly ramp up production,” the company said.