Enaex says it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the international shipping group NYK Bulk & Projects Carriers Ltd (NBP), del Grupo NYK to assess the feasibility of providing low-carbon ammonia as a fuel for ships set to carry copper concentrate.

Over the next decade, NBP plans to build between 10 and 15 Handymax bulk carriers, which will use low-carbon ammonia as their main fuel. The first of these ships is expected to arrive in Chile in 2027, to be used to transport copper concentrate produced by Codelco from Mejillones, in the Antofagasta Region, to countries in the Asian market.

Juan Andrés Errázuriz, CEO of Enaex, said: “Our company’s first value is to care for life and, as part of that commitment, we are concerned about mitigating the impacts on climate change. Therefore, we are constantly working to reduce CO2 emissions and, to date, we have reduced more than 90% of emissions in our production process. Going further along this path, we are now focused on collaborating in the reduction of emissions in the transportation of raw materials.”

According to the MoU, Enaex will have to provide the low carbon ammonia for these vessels, as well as make available for loading the facilities of its terminal in Mejillones, which until now are only used for unloading ammonia.

Errázuriz said: “Our company already has experience in the transport and production of low-carbon ammonia. At our Cachimayo plant in Peru, we are producing green ammonia and we have also imported blue ammonia from the United States.”

According to the new carbon neutrality goals established by the International Maritime Organization, the shipping industry is projected to be one of the largest consumers of low-carbon ammonia in the future.

The understanding agreement was signed Errázuriz, Hitoshi Nagasawa, President of NYK, and Masashi Suda, President of NBP, at Enaex’s offices in Santiago.