Logistics

Participation in Sustainable Logistics Initiative

Mitsui Chemicals announced its support for the sustainable logistics initiative proposed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and submitted a declaration of its relevant independent activities. The initiative is aimed at addressing the increasing shortage of drivers, ensuring the stable logistics operations needed for domestic life and industrial activities while also contributing to economic growth. The initiative aims to improve productivity in truck transportation and create greater logistical efficiency while also looking to realize a better labor environment that makes work easier for female drivers and those over the age of 60. The table below describes the initiatives laid out in Mitsui Chemicals’ declaration of its independent activities.

Modal Shift

In fiscal 2017, five companies including Mitsui Chemicals were collectively certified as modal shift businesses by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. In this instance, certification recognized the modal shift away from the use of trucks to rail when transporting products between the Company’s operations in the Ichihara area (Chiba Prefecture) to its affiliate DOW-MITSUI POLYCHEMICALS CO., LTD. in the Ohtake area (Hiroshima Prefecture). In August 2017, large containers provided by Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) were introduced in full for container round use^* based on the shared logistics system of the Mitsui Chemicals Group. These efforts have assured stability in the mode of transportation, reduced CO₂ emissions by 70% and reduced working time for drivers. They were achieved through the partnership between the Mitsui Chemicals Group, JR Freight and our logistics providers.

*Container round use:
Container round use is a concept that returning the container with another cargo after unloading the cargo on the outbound instead of returning “Empty.”

We made greater advances in modal shift for transportation from the Ichihara area to the Chugoku area. Previously, Mitsui Chemicals had used trucks to ship products using 500-kilogram flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs). However, the particular nature of the product did not allow stacking in two tiers. For this reason, a 12-ton truck was able to carry only eight tons of products in a single layer, which is only 67% of the truck's loading capacity. This presented a problem of loading efficiency. Accordingly, Mitsui Chemicals produced - with registered design rights on - a dedicated rack to enable the FIBCs to be stacked in two tiers, along with a special 20-foot high-cube container that has been registered as a utility model. The containerization of the cargo made it possible to improve loading efficiency and succeed in a modal shift to the use of domestic container ships. These efforts led to a reduction in CO₂ emissions and a reduction in truck drivers’ workload. We received the Award for Eco-Friendly Logistics Technology at 20th Logistics Environment Award of the Japan Association for Logistics and Transport. We are expanding this practice to other areas of Japan. We have accomplished domestic marine transportation in the Kyushu area since March 2021.

In the modal shift from trucks to ships, we are collaborating more with other private companies in the same industry. Shipments from two companies that had been transported in the past between Chiba and Yamaguchi/Hiroshima by truck are now consolidated and shipped together in a marine container on a regular container ship, achieving a modal shift and round use of the container. Alongside existing modal shift projects, this has contributed to a roughly 40% reduction in annual CO₂ emissions and contributed significantly to solving the driver shortage. In addition, side-end opening containers have been adopted for greater productivity. This has resulted in an approximately 80% reduction in cargo handling operations, resulting in a dramatic improvement in work efficiency. These efforts have been recognized with a Special Prize in the 22nd Logistics Environment Award organized by the Japan Association for Logistics and Transport.

Mitsui Chemicals has been designated as an Eco Rail Mark company by the Administration and Screening Committee of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Shared Logistics System for Small-lot Products by Other Companies in the Same Business

In the Keiyo area to the east of Tokyo, we have collected shipments from the production sites of other manufacturers in the vicinity and share the logistics of delivering those products to customers via common transportation routes since 2016. Traditionally, transportation was carried out by delivery companies that took chemicals mixed with loads of general merchandise on set routes via multiple transshipment points. Since we reduced the number of transshipment points by using companies specializing in chemicals, we reduced the number of quality issues, such as damage caused in transit. We could also achieve the improvement in load efficiency which leads the effect of reducing our CO₂ emissions. This system started with shipments destined for the Tohoku areas and has expanded to destinations in the Hokuriku and Koshinetsu areas. To boost the shared logistics system, activities will be developed together with the logistics providers and shippers who are participating in the system. There are different logistics collaboration schemes in both goods owners and chemical companies. We are currently working to establish a combined transportation system. This system should be able to replace or supplement some parts of the national transportation networks, through which we plan to create a stable, small-lot transportation scheme for chemicals.

Shared Logistics System

Setting the Targets for GHG Emissions Reduction in Logistics

The Mitsui Chemicals climate change policy aims to "maximize contribution of the value chain" and it has also been working to reduce GHG emissions in the logistics process for product transportation. Starting fiscal 2022, we have set KPIs so that the progress in such an initiative can be monitored to improve it based on quantified information. Upon setting the KPIs, in order to ensure effective management, we set up different targets for domestic logistics, which mainly involves transporting goods by railroad, trucks, vessels, aircraft, etc., and for international logistics, which mainly involves transporting containers by vessels, because the situation is different between them.
In domestic logistics, we have set a target of reducing GHG emissions in domestic logistics by 10% by 2030 compared with the level in fiscal 2020 and a fiscal 2022 target of reducing them by 1% compared with the level in fiscal 2020. Specifically, in addition to continuing the ongoing measures for the above mentioned modal shift, etc., we plan to utilize environmentally conscious transportation vehicles and transportation equipment (including the use of electrical forklift, etc.).
As for international logistics, which involves transportation by container vessels, we will grasp GHG emissions in cooperation from shipping companies^* and in such a process take into account GHG emissions to select shipping companies. In this way, we will work to reduce GHG emissions throughout the entire value chain.
Due to its characteristics, however, there is an issue in logistics in that it is difficult to visualize efforts made to reduce GHG emissions through individual initiatives from the GHG emissions and the energy intensity in transportation. This is because these figures are likely to fluctuate depending on the change in product shipment volume and the presence or absence of logistics problems attributable to natural disasters. As such, from fiscal 2022 we plan to count the GHG emission reduction achievable through individual initiatives as GHG emissions reduction contribution and use it to assess the impact of individual initiatives.

*Mitsui Chemicals Partners With Mitsui-Soko Holdings to Calculate CO₂ Emissions From International Transport of Products Leveraging digital transformation to visualize CO₂ emissions in real time with a new calculation method

*Marine Container transportation:
Transportation projects arranged by the Mitsui Chemicals Logistics Division

GHG emissions in domestic logistics (Mitsui Chemicals)

*Energy Intensity for the Transportation of Products:
Amount of energy consumed (crude oil equivalent in kiloliters) / Volume of product shipments (thousands of tons).