DHL Express, Neste enter deal for 7,400 tonnes of SAF at Changi

DHL Express has purchased 7,400 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel from renewable fuel manufacturer Neste in Singapore. 

Neste will provide the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to DHL at Changi Airport (SIN) over the course of a year, beginning this month, according to a July 15 release from Neste. 

Neste declined to comment on the fuel’s cost but told Cargo Facts it is “one of the largest SAF deals by volume in Asia in the air cargo sector and DHL’s first SAF purchase for international flights from Singapore Changi Airport.” 

DHL did not respond to requests for comment. 

Neste will produce the SAF at its Singapore refinery. The SAF will be eligible for the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), which requires that airlines purchase and cancel eligible emissions units (EEU) to offset the increase in carbon emissions CORSIA covers. One EEU equates to one tonne of carbon emissions reduction. 

Neste will deliver the SAF blended with conventional jet fuel directly into SIN’s fuel distribution facilities. The SAF will account for approximately 35% to 40% of the overall fuel blend composition. DHL Express will use the blend in its five Singapore Airlines-operated 777Fs, which depart the airport twelve times a week, according to the release. 

Decarbonizing DHL’s ops 

DHL Group has been purchasing SAF from Neste since 2020. DHL and Neste agreed in February to collaborate more closely to evaluate how Neste’s fuels can help DHL decarbonize its operations. Neste delivers SAF to DHL at the airports in San Francisco (SFO), Amsterdam (AMS) and East Midlands, U.K. (EMA). 

DHL is aiming for its logistics segment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emission targets by 2050, according to a July 15 release from DHL. By 2030, DHL aims to increase its share of sustainable fuels across all transportation modes to more than 30% and to electrify two-thirds of its last-mile delivery vehicles. 

Neste at SIN 

Neste completed a 1.6 billion euro ($1.9 billion) expansion project at its Singapore refinery in May 2023, bringing the refinery’s production capacity to 2.6 million tonnes annually. Of those 2.6 million tonnes, 1 million tonnes can be SAF, Neste said in a May 2023 release. 

In 2024, Singapore Airlines and low-cost airline Scoot were the first carriers operating out of SIN to receive SAF produced in Neste’s Singapore refinery, Neste told Cargo Facts. Emirates and Vietnam Airlines used Neste SAF at SIN last year. 

Neste’s global SAF production capability is 1.5 million tonnes annually.  

“Our renewable fuels refinery in Tuas, Singapore, is currently the world’s largest SAF production facility and provides the aviation industry in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond,” Neste told Cargo Facts.  

This gives industry members “the opportunity to start or expand their use of SAF in the region, whether to comply with governmental policies encouraging or mandating SAF use or to voluntarily replace fossil fuel use with SAF to reach their own climate targets,” Neste said. 

Editor’s note: All amounts have been converted to U.S. dollars. 

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