UAE - Mubasher: The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) will sell the UAE's first cargo of blue ammonia to Itochu in Japan, in partnership with Fertiglobe, to be used in fertiliser production.

The sale is in line with joint efforts to promote industrial cooperation between the UAE and Japan and support the development of new UAE-Japan blue ammonia supply chains, according to a press release on Tuesday.

Fertiglobe, a 58:42 partnership between OCI and ADNOC, will produce blue ammonia at its Fertil plant in the Ruwais Industrial Complex in Abu Dhabi to be delivered to ADNOC’s customers in Japan.

Fertiglobe is the world’s largest seaborne exporter of nitrogen fertilisers, and its Fertil plant is one of the largest regional fertiliser producers with a production capacity of 1.2 million metric tonnes of ammonia and 2.1 million metric tonnes of urea.

The UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, said: "Through the expansion of our capabilities across the blue ammonia value chain, we look forward to furthering our legacy as one of the world’s least carbon-intensive hydrocarbon producers and supporting industrial decarbonisation with a competitive low-carbon product portfolio."

Meanwhile, the Executive Officer of ITOCHU Corporation, President of the Energy & Chemicals Company, and COO of the Power & Environmental Solution Division, Masaya Tanaka, commented: "Starting with this trial of blue ammonia for fertilizer applications, we aim to create a wide range of ammonia value chains for existing industrial applications as well as future energy use."