Marubeni delivers S. Korean SAF to All Nippon Airways

Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation announced that it supplied first shipment of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced by the South Korean refinery HD Hyundai Oilbank to All Nippon Airways.

“Marubeni has begun supplying SAF produced by the co-processing pathway, which processes petroleum-derived and bio-based feedstocks simultaneously, within Japan,” said the company in a statement.

The company said that it procured SAF derived from vegetable oil (used cooking oil) that was produced by HD Hyundai Oilbank, a Korean oil refining company, at its refinery, and supplied it to All Nippon Airways at the Chiba terminal of Marubeni Ennex, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marubeni.

This is the first time that SAF based on the co-processing pathway has been supplied within Japan.

The Japanese mega conglomerate said it is committed to make investments towards reducing its carbon footprint. It said it will make medium- to long-term contributions to global climate change measures, including the decarbonisation of the aviation industry by further expanding its SAF sales network.

Japanese government has set a 10% blending target for SAF within the local flights by 2030.

HD Hyundai Oilbank produces SAF using the co-processing pathway by mixing petroleum-derived and bio-derived feedstock such as vegetable oil (used cooking oil) and inputting them into existing refinery units.

The units can be used to co-process feedstock without large-scale renovation work, thus allowing for lower capital investment expenditures and an earlier start of SAF production.