Itochu signed an agreement with Lotte Chemical to collaborate on developing fuel ammonia businesses in their efforts to decarbonize. The companies see Japan and South Korea as two major ammonia importers in the Far East Asian region, expecting a huge demand for ammonia as a decarbonized fuel in the power and marine sectors.
The companies plan to trade fuel-use ammonia, and they will also study the use of ammonia infrastructures, demand in Japan and South Korea, and joint investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) to produce blue ammonia. The companies will also explore opportunities in the hydrogen industry, but ammonia is the first priority.
Itochu is also working on building an ammonia supply chain for marine fuel in Singapore with Japanese shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines (Mol), Itochu’s subsidiary Itochu Enex, Netherlands-based oil storage and terminal operator Vopak, Singapore’s Pavilion Energy and Total.
Itochu is also planning blue ammonia production in Canada from 2026 with CCS technology. The companies are targeting to start construction of the 1mn t/yr plant in 2023.