ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has concluded a joint development agreement (hereinafter the “JDA”) for ammonia bunkering hub in Japan with TORAY Industries, Inc. (headquartered in Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Mitsuo Ohya, President; hereinafter “Toray”) and Uyeno Transtech Ltd. (headquartered in Yokohama-city, Kanagawa Prefecture; Takashi Uyeno, Chairman & President, CEO & COO; hereinafter “Uyeno Transtech”). The goal of this JDA is to jointly study and confirm the safety operation and necessary facilities of ammonia bunkering, obtain relevant permits from Japanese authorities, and to examine the commercial terms and conditions of ammonia bunkering, with an aim to establish ammonia bunkering hubs in Japan as part of ITOCHU's efforts to promote the social implementation of ammonia as marine fuel.

As a medium-term initiative toward achieving the international target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net-zero from international shipping by or around 2050, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved a draft for revisions to the convention, including the adoption of a system aimed at converting marine fuel for vessels to alternative fuels with low GHG emissions in phases and providing economic incentives for the introduction of zero-emission or nearly zero-emission fuel-powered vessels. When this framework takes effect, initiatives to supply alternative fuels with low GHG emissions and the introduction of zero-emission or nearly zero-emission fuel-powered vessels will be accelerated further.

In addition, as ammonia is expected to be used as a zero-emission marine fuel among alternative fuels, many stakeholders in maritime sector, including cargo owners and fuel producers, are considering the use and development of ammonia-fueled vessels. As a part of this, establishment of ammonia bunkering hub serves to strengthen relationships between the marine industry and the fuel industry, and ITOCHU will hold discussion with relevant companies with an aim to expand a stable supply chain for ammonia bunkering hub in Japan.

As part of an integrated project^*1, ITOCHU placed a new building order with a domestic shipyard for an ammonia bunkering vessel (hereinafter the “Vessel”) in June of this year^*2. After demonstrating ammonia bunkering using this Vessel in Singapore, ITOCHU plans to develop ammonia bunkering business in Singapore. At the same time, ITOCHU will study the development of ammonia supply chain as marine fuel to Japan with low environmental impact based on LCA^*3, to grasp initial demand for ammonia bunkering in Japan, with possible relocation of this Vessel to Japan.

ITOCHU has put forth a new management policy, “The Brand-new Deal – Profit opportunities are shifting downstream –” and is pursuing a policy of enhancing its contribution to and engagement with the SDGs through business activities while listening to all stakeholders, including the market, society, and consumers. Going forward, it will continue to promote the Integrated Project of ammonia-fueled vessels and work to realize early social implementation of ammonia-fueled vessels. In doing so, it will contribute to decarbonization in international shipping.