Neste and ITOCHU Extend Their Collaboration to Make Neste MY Renewable Diesel More Widely Available in the Japanese Market

(Neste) Neste and ITOCHU have agreed to extend their collaboration with a licensing agreement allowing ITOCHU to become an official distributor of Neste MY Renewable Diesel™ in Japan. Based on this agreement, the availability of Neste MY Renewable Diesel will be expanded in the market, for example, to the area around Osaka in order to supply the fuel to the construction site of the Osaka-Kansai Japan Expo taking place in 2025.

Japan has accelerated the steps towards decarbonization in order to meet two ambitious climate goals: carbon neutrality by 2050 and a 46% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. Neste and ITOCHU share a common vision of renewable fuels playing a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Japan. The key focus in the current collaboration will, therefore, be not only on selling but also on promoting the use of more sustainable fuels, accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewable fuels, and increasing knowledge sharing on renewable diesel and the benefits it provides to its users.

“We are very excited to expand our Neste MY Renewable Diesel offering in Japan. We firmly believe that all solutions are needed to reduce transportation-related emissions and support Japan’s target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. We are committed to supporting our customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030,” says Peter Zonneveld, Vice President Sales, Europe and APAC at Neste’s Renewable Road Transportation business unit.

Neste and ITOCHU started collaborating in Japan already in June 2021 to make renewable diesel available to selected customers in Japan. At the time, the partners agreed to build a strategic partnership to accelerate the use of renewable diesel as a low-emission solution for diesel engines in Japan.

“The relationship between Neste and ITOCHU first started as early as in 2010, when we collaborated on renewable diesel in California. We are now very pleased to deepen the relationship by expanding the distribution of renewable diesel in Japan. Renewable diesel is getting a lot of attention as a solution for decarbonizing multiple industries such as heavy duty transportation, off-road and railways in Japan. We are very happy to strengthen the partnership with Neste and thereby help the Japanese market to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions,” says Tatsuya Tanaka, ITOCHU’s General Manager of the petroleum trading department.

By switching fossil diesel to Neste MY Renewable Diesel, GHG emissions can be reduced by as much as 75 to 95%* when emissions over the fuel's life cycle are compared with fossil diesel. Neste MY Renewable Diesel is produced from 100% renewable raw materials. It is a drop-in fuel, not requiring any modifications to the existing diesel-powered vehicles or fuel distribution infrastructures.

The expansion of the partnership between Neste and ITOCHU also builds on the existing collaboration to increase the availability of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™ (SAF) in the Japanese market. Using Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% over the fuel’s life cycle compared to using fossil jet fuel**. As part of their collaboration, Neste and ITOCHU are currently supplying SAF at Haneda, Narita and Chubu International Airports, supporting Japanese airlines and the Japanese government with their emission reduction targets.

*) The GHG emission reduction percentage varies depending on the region-specific legislation that provides the methodology for the calculations (e.g. EU RED II 2018/2001/EU for Europe and US California LCFS for the US), and the raw material mix used to manufacture the product for each market.

**) When used in neat form (i.e. unblended) and calculated with established life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies, such as CORSIA methodology

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 sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel and developing chemical recycling to combat the plastic waste challenge. We aim at helping customers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions with our renewable and circular solutions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030. Our ambition is to make the Porvoo oil refinery in Finland the most sustainable refinery in Europe by 2030. We are introducing renewable and recycled raw materials such as liquefied waste plastic as refinery raw materials. We have committed to reaching carbon-neutral production by 2035, and we will reduce the carbon emission intensity of sold products by 50% by 2040. We also have set high standards for biodiversity, human rights and supply chain. We have consistently been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable companies. In 2022, Neste's revenue stood at EUR 25.7 billion. Read more: neste.com

The history of ITOCHU Corporation dates back to 1858 when the company’s founder Chubei Itoh commenced linen trading operations. Since then, ITOCHU Corporation has evolved and grown over 160 years. With approximately 100 bases in 62 countries, ITOCHU Corporation, one of the leading sogo shosha, is engaging in domestic trading, import and export, and overseas trading of various products such as textile, machinery, metals, minerals, energy, chemicals, food, general products,realty, information and communications technology, and finance, as well as business investment in Japan and overseas. READ MORE