ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it would engage in the decarbonization promotion project using renewable diesel (hereinafter “RD”) along with the association formed by ITOCHU ENEX CO., LTD., Ocean Network Express Pte. Ltd., SAN-AI OBBLI Co., Ltd., SUNTORY HOLDINGS LIMITED, ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS CO., LTD., TONAMI Transportation Co., Ltd. and NIPPON CONTAINER YUSO CO., LTD. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government solicited participants in the Program Supporting the Commercialization of Biofuel Utilization (hereinafter “the Support Program”) and selected the project that ITOCHU submitted jointly with the companies above.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is promoting a HTT campaign for electricity (H for herasu meaning reduce, T for tsukuru meaning create, and T for tameru meaning store) while taking measures to realize the Zero Emission Tokyo Strategy. They are implementing the Support Program which supports initiatives for commercializing machines such as vehicles, ships and airplanes that use biofuels (RD SAF, etc.) whose environmental impact is lower. The members of the association aim to increase biofuel use by using the RD procured by ITOCHU in land transport vehicles and work vehicles for airport facilities.

As the global movement toward carbon neutrality accelerates, the transportation sector is facing the urgent issue of being prepared for decarbonization. As a drop-in fuel, RD is an effective solution since it is able to reduce GHG emissions while using existing logistics infrastructure and internal-combustion engines. ITOCHU concluded a trademark licensing agreement to expand the distribution of Neste MY Renewable Diesel,* RD manufactured by Neste Corporation, the largest renewable fuel manufacturer in the world, in Japan and concluded an agreement on an enhanced branding collaboration with Neste. This August, ITOCHU commenced the first import with a tanker. ITOCHU will ensure the stable supply of RD in Tokyo, including to the Support Program and broaden its distribution of RD in Japan.

ITOCHU included contributing to the SDGs and strengthening SDG initiatives in the Basic Policies in its medium-term management plan. 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.