Lotte Chem, Itochu join hands on hydrogen, ammonia biz

South Korea’s major petrochemical producer Lotte Chemical Corp. and a Japanese trading house Itochu Corp. joined forces for the hydrogen and ammonia sectors.

Lotte and Itochu agreed on Thursday to cooperate in businesses including ammonia trading, ammonia infrastructure utilization and hydrogen-ammonia market development, according to both companies.

They also plan to jointly invest in ammonia production facilities and explore further cooperation models in the hydrogen business.

Ammonia, a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen, is an ideal “carrier” of hydrogen due to its practicality in storing and transporting hydrogen. Ammonia does not produce carbon dioxide, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, when it is used for thermal power plants or ships.

“Lotte Chemical will combine its ammonia distribution and utilization infrastructure, as well as expertise in the business with Itochu’s ammonia storing business capabilities and others for one of the businesses to achieve carbon neutrality,” said Hwang Jin koo, Lotte’s president of basic material business.

The South Korean company plans to invest 6 trillion won ($4.6 billion) by 2030 to produce 1.2 million tons of clean hydrogen with a target of 5 trillion won in sales a year from the business.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.