Saudi blue ammonia is en route to South Korea: Saudi Aramco and Sabic Agri-Nutrients shipped the world’s first commercial load of blue ammonia to South Korea, Zawya reports. The companies shipped 25k tons of low-carbon blue ammonia to Lotte Fine Chemical (LFC), with the shipment expected to arrive between 9 and 13 December.

It’s not the only shipment South Korea is expecting: Saudi mining company Maaden will also export 25k tons of blue ammonia to LFC by the end of the year.

REMEMBER- Aramco said it was earmarking “multiple bns of USD” in a bid to establish itself as a major blue hydrogen exporter earlier this month. CTO Ahmad Al Khowaiter said export discussions with Japan and South Korea were the ones “farthest along” with Aramco, which had sent test cargoes totaling 40 tons of blue ammonia to Japan in 2020.

Will Qatar be getting in on the export action? State-owned QatarEnergy signed agreements in September to build the world’s largest blue ammonia plant — worth USD 1 bn — which is set to produce 1.2 mn tons of blue ammonia annually, some of which is destined for exports. The plant offers Qatar the chance “to supply differentiated, low-carbon products and fuels to the world,” CEO Saad Sherida Al Kaabi was quoted as saying in a statement.

ENTERPRISE EXPLAINS- Blue ammonia is a carrier for hydrogen, which many in industry are tipping as one of the fuels of the future for hard-to-decarbonize industries. Although not as environmentally-friendly as green ammonia, it’s still seen as a source of clean energy. Unlike conventional production, blue ammonia involves the use of carbon capture, which stores the CO2 underground and prevents its release into the atmosphere. Blue ammonia can be used to produce clean urea fertilizers, to fuel ships, to power cement production more sustainably, and to fire factories.

GO DEEPER — check out our explainer here.