ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE CREATION STORY
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GREEN AMMONIA –
A NEW DRIVING FORCE OF GREEN GROWTH

We will nurture green ammonia business into one of our core operations by deploying our knowhow and resources, and thus contribute to realizing low-carbon, green growth of the Korean economy.

LFC’s share of the Northeast Asian ammonia distribution market
LFC has been improving its business model of importing ammonia for domestic distribution since 1984 when it launched ammonia business. In 2017, we expanded business to include intermediary trade by operating a 40,000-ton liquid gas container (LGC). LFC also leads peers in infrastructure – a of the end of 2021, we have eight tanks capable of storing 93,000 tons of ammonia. Based on our largest ammonia infrastructure in Asia, we have emerged the largest ammonia distributor in Northeast Asia, supplying two-thirds of domestic ammonia demand1). With the infrastructure further bolstered by growing ties with various partners at home and abroad as well as by synergetic collaborations with other LOTTE Group affiliates, LFC is gaining competitiveness in all ammonia industry value chains.
1) Based on LFC’s estimates
To further fortify our ammonia supply chain network, we signed an MOU with Trammo on supply of green ammonia in September 2021. The world’s largest ammonia trader with an extensive global supply network, Trammo has agreed to expand the scope of cooperation based on the mutual trust we have built up over the past 10 years or so. In addition, as domestic and overseas demand for ammonia will likely continue to grow and fuel the growth of infrastructure, LFC participated in the “Consortium to Foster an Overseas Green Hydrogen (Ammonia) Supply Base” led by Ulsan Port Authority in July 2021.
Storage capacity of LFC’s ammonia infrastructure
Aimed at making hydrogen the first energy source led by Korea, the government launched “Concept Map for Overseas Development of Clean Hydrogen (H2 STAR Project)” in October 2021. The project centers on producing hydrogen overseas by Korean corporations using solar, wind, and other eco-friendly energy sources, transporting hydrogen absorbed in ammonia on Korean-owned eco-friendly vessels to Korea, having the hydrogen separation process done by LFC and other domestic leaders of green ammonia, and finally distributing the hydrogen to domestic industries. In December, we participated in a consortium composed of nine industry, university and private research institutes, including LOTTE Chemical and the Korea Institute of Energy Research, to carry out a pilot project to demonstrate extraction of hydrogen from ammonia. As the government-sponsored project centers on constructing a pilot plant capable of producing 800 tons of ammonia-based hydrogen per year at our Ulsan Complex and on developing a design package for a 16,000-ton production plant, we will do our best as a key player of the project, deploying our knowhow and resources, to accelerate the country’s transition to a hydrogen society.
For hydrogen to become a truly eco-friendly energy source, the whole process must be free of any carbon traces, from production to distribution, storage to utilization. LFC will nurture green ammonia business into one of its core operations by securing green ammonia production and supply chains overseas, by expanding storage, and developing new markets for bunkering, as well as by securing core technology, thus contribute to realizing low-carbon, green growth of the Korean economy.
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