The South Korea-based chemical company will receive an unspecified volume of ammonia from Envision’s Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, plant in the “world’s first” commercial delivery of the molecule.

Ammonia could be an important energy carrier for importing regions like South Korea, which aims to import around 1.96 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030.

Seung Won Chung, CEO of Lotte, said the shipment represents a milestone of “historic significance”, establishing a green hydrogen and ammonia value chain which represents a leading decarbonisation solution.

“We will continue to cooperate with global industry leaders to lay the foundation for becoming Asia’s number one clean ammonia hub,” he continued.

Lotte’s Green Promise 2030 initiative outlines “leading growth of the hydrogen ecosystem” and achieving net-zero by 2050 through hydrogen and battery-powered business developments.

In January 2025, Lotte commissioned a large-scale ammonia cracking system in collaboration with US-based Syzygy Plasmonics.

Envision says the Chifeng plant is projected to produce 1.5 million-tonnes-per-year of green ammonia compliant with international schemes like the EU’s Renewable Fuel of Non-Biological Origin rules by 2028.

The project is also expected to supply Japan’s Marubeni for use in fertilisers, chemicals, and shipping.

Ammonia is viewed as an increasingly important transportation method for green hydrogen due to its higher volumetric density and existing transport infrastructure. However, its efficiency is called into question due to losses incurred during its synthesis and cracking back into hydrogen.