ITOCHU Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and COO: Keita Ishii; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) has signed a collaboration agreement of Neste MY Renewable Diesel, a renewable diesel, produced by Neste OYJ (Headquarters: Finland; CEO: Matti Lehmus; hereinafter “Neste”), the world’s largest manufacturer of renewable products, for Japanese market.

Regarding the reduction of GHG emissions in Japan, the government strongly committed to the "Clean Energy Strategy" and actively advocates its policy to achieve carbon neutrality (hereinafter "CN") by 2050 and a 46% reduction target by 2030.
Renewable diesel, as "drop-in fuel", is getting lots of attention to customers and industries such as transportation and construction in Japan, because it can immediately reduce existing emissions. Vehicle machinery manufacturers are developing technology for electrification and hydrogen-fueled vehicles as CN measures, while also keep utilizing current internal combustion engine technology, for CN in future.

In May 2021, ITOCHU has started first commercial sales of renewable diesel in Japan, as an alternative fuel for delivery-trucks of FamilyMart Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Kensuke Hosomi). Through co-working with ITOCHU ENEX Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Tomofumi Yoshida), ITOCHU has developed supply chain and sales volume of renewable diesel in Japan, and helped our customers reduce their emissions. Neste is the world's largest manufacturer of renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel and renewable feedstock solutions for polymers and chemicals production, with a production volume of 3.3 million tons/year worldwide, and is currently promoting further expansion of its supply SAF and renewable diesel. The production volume is expected to reach 5.5 million tons/year by early 2024 and 6.8 million tons/year by the end of 2026. Neste's reputable transaction in raw material procurement, production and supply, as well as its stable quality control in the products have been highly evaluated by Japanese customers.

ITOCHU concludes a license agreement with Neste, and will start importing renewable diesel on a tanker scale in 2023, and expand the area of its distribution, especially in Osaka area in order to supply renewable diesel for potential demand on construction site related to the Osaka-Kansai Japan EXPO, by carrying out joint marketing and partnership with Neste.

One of the basic policies of ITOCHU's medium-term management plan is to "contribute to and strengthen initiative for the SDGs. By increasing the market penetration of renewable fuels in cooperation with leading partners, we will continue to contribute to the realization of a recycling-oriented society.