The government has designated the period from April to September, when demand for carbonated beverages increases, as a carbonated beverage supply and demand management period and will continue to manage it.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Lee Chang-yang) announced that it will support the supply of carbonated water during the summer season, when demand for carbonated water is expected to increase, by designating the period from the 13th to the end of September as a carbonated water supply and demand countermeasure period.

To this end, on the 13th, a meeting on carbonated water supply and demand management was held with industry and association groups, chaired by Yang Ki-wook, director of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s Industrial Supply Chain Policy Bureau, to check the status of carbonated water supply and discuss countermeasures.

As the number of ship orders in the shipbuilding industry increases this year, demand for welding carbon dioxide used in shipbuilding is expected to increase.

In addition, as summer temperatures are expected to be higher than average, demand for dry ice used in fresh food delivery services is also expected to increase.

According to the Korea Petrochemical Industry Association, carbon dioxide production from May to August is expected to be higher than demand.

However, regular maintenance is scheduled for two companies in April and three companies in September, so there is a possibility that the production of carbonated raw materials will temporarily decrease, making the supply of carbonated raw materials unstable.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has designated the carbonated water supply and demand period from April 13 to September, moving up the carbonated water supply and demand period, originally scheduled to start in May, by about 20 days.

In order to prevent a shortage of carbon dioxide supply, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy shared the regular maintenance schedules of oil refineries and petrochemical companies in advance and, with the cooperation of the companies, dispersed and adjusted the schedules to prevent regular maintenance schedules from being concentrated in a certain period.

Additionally, some companies have expanded their plants to supply carbonated raw materials and plan to put them into operation this year. If the expanded plant operates normally, it is expected to contribute to stabilizing the carbonated beverage supply chain.

During the countermeasure period, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy decided to monitor the supply status of carbonated raw materials and carbonated production at biweekly intervals, centered around the Korea Petrochemical Industry Association, a specialized carbonated raw material supply organization.

If there is concern that carbon dioxide supply may become unstable during the monitoring process, we plan to prepare emergency measures in consultation with companies and associations.

In addition, we plan to maintain a cooperative system based on the alliance between carbonated beverage supply and demand organizations that was launched in November of last year to provide support so that any difficulties that may arise in the industry related to carbonated beverage supply can be quickly resolved.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, “Since COVID-19, there has been a shortage of carbonated water supply every year. This year, we plan to proactively respond by designating a carbonated water supply countermeasure period and continuously checking the current situation to support the supply of carbonated water.” He added, “If there continues to be a shortage of supply of other industrial gases in addition to carbonated water, we will check and manage the situation.”

He also said, “The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will continue to work to ensure that companies do not face difficulties due to instability in the domestic supply chain.”