The government will review plans to support the domestic production of urea by utilizing a five trillion won-fund that will be established this year to stabilize supply chains.

The plan was among projects discussed at a meeting on Monday attended by the trade ministry, foreign ministry and Public Procurement Service as well as companies such as Lotte Fine Chemical, Posco Future M, EcoPro and Korea Zinc.

The meeting focused on establishing and diversifying supply chains of eight materials which South Korea is highly dependent on China, including urea, cathode materials, semiconductor materials, magnesium and molybdenum. 

The government said it plans to use the envisioned fund to support businesses that will newly build urea facilities at home.

With such move, the government is aiming to fundamentally prevent a serious shortage of urea, which South Korea has suffered depending on the unstable supply and demand of the compound in China, the world’s largest producer of urea.