Notice Regarding Commencement of the CO2-based Soybean Cultivation Research Project in Cooperation with Saga City, Saga University and FUJI OIL HOLDINGS INC.

ITOCHU ENEX CO., LTD. (Headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Kenji Okada, Representative Director, President and CEO; hereinafter "the Company") announced today that in April 2022 it began a CO2-based soybean cultivation research project jointly with Saga City (Hidetaka Sakai, Mayor), Saga University (Hiroaki Kodama, President), and FUJI OIL HOLDINGS INC. (Headquartered in Osaka City, Osaka; Mikio Sakai, President & CEO; hereafter "FUJI OIL HOLDINGS").

The research project aims to investigate efficient soybean cultivation based on soybeans growing faster when they absorb more carbon dioxide. It will begin with a demonstration at the experiment facilities within Saga University. The project plans to use CO2 collected through Carbon dioxide Capture and Utilization (CCU) at Saga City's waste incineration plant in the future. The research team would like to expand the scale of cultivation gradually for the commercialization of sustainable soybean products based on the technology of the Fuji Oil Group using the soybeans cultivated through this project and offer these products widely.

Now, Saga City's waste incineration plant is engaged in CCU, selectively isolating and collecting CO2 from the exhaust gases from the incineration of waste. They provide the collected carbon dioxide to neighboring farmers and algae business operators. ITOCHU ENEX has entered into the joint research agreement focusing on the land within Saga City, one of the leading soybean producing areas in Japan. The decision was made based on the idea of efficiently cultivating soybeans using collected CO2 as a precious source of protein. Participants will be committed to the research project involving close cooperation between industry, government and academia for the long term.

ITOCHU ENEX Group's mission is to stably supply diverse types of energy that are indispensable for life. Further, the group is planning to proactively develop a solar farming business using solar power generation on agricultural land. It will continue to address environmental and social issues through energy.

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