ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) and Neste (headquartered in Finland; Peter Vanacker, President and CEO; hereinafter “Neste”) have expanded their partnership to grow the availability of sustainable aviation fuel (‘SAF’) in Japan. In the partnership, ITOCHU acts as the sole branded distributor of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel ^TM in Japan, making Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel available first at the two largest Japanese international airports; Tokyo Haneda and Narita.

Already in 2020, ITOCHU, Neste and All Nippon Airways started cooperating, establishing a SAF supply chain in Japan enabling Neste’s first SAF delivery into Asia to take place in Japan. Through their expanded partnership, ITOCHU and Neste are able to support other domestic and international airlines as well as other fuel suppliers at Haneda and Narita International Airports, going forward.

“The relationship between ITOCHU and Neste started in early 2010’s when we collaborated on renewable diesel business in California, and we are very pleased to deepen the relationship further. Now, airline industry is one of the front-runners who is committed to reducing carbon footprint, and we are excited to contribute to their efforts by increasing availability of SAF in Japan in partnership with Neste“, says Tsuyoshi Matsumoto, ITOCHU’s general manager of Petroleum Trading Department.

“This partnership is a major step forward in making our sustainable aviation fuel available in the Japanese market. It underlines our commitment to working together with the aviation industry to achieve its emission reduction targets. With our Singapore refinery capacity expansion project scheduled for start-up by the end of the first quarter of 2023, we are able to produce up to 1 million tonnes of SAF per annum and ready to support the Japanese and broader Asia-Pacific aviation markets,” says Sami Jauhiainen, Neste’s Vice President APAC, Renewable Aviation.

Recently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan submitted a roadmap to the Study Group on CO₂ reduction from aircraft, recommending a target of replacing 10 percent of jet fuels consumed by Japanese airlines by 2030 with SAF. ITOCHU and Neste are committed to supporting the aviation industry’s and Japan’s climate emission reduction targets and contribute to reaching them with the new partnership.

Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel is an immediate solution for reducing the direct greenhouse gas emissions of flying. It can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%*, in its neat form and over the lifecycle, compared to fossil jet fuel. Neste-produced SAF is made from sustainably sourced, 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials. As a drop-in fuel it can be used with existing aircraft engines and airport fuel infrastructure, requiring no extra investment.

Neste (NESTE, Nasdaq Helsinki) creates solutions for combating climate change and accelerating a shift to a circular economy. We refine waste, residues and innovative raw materials into renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock for plastics and other materials. We are the world’s leading producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel, developing chemical recycling to combat the plastic waste challenge. We aim at helping customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with our renewable and circular solutions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030. As a technologically advanced refiner of high-quality oil products with a commitment to reach carbon-neutral production by 2035, we are also introducing renewable and recycled raw materials such as waste plastic as refinery raw materials. We have consistently been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable companies. In 2020, Neste's revenue stood at EUR 11.8 billion, with 94% of the company’s comparable operating profit coming from renewable products. Read more: neste.com