essDOCS (a part of ICE) is pleased to report that leading global mining company, Rio Tinto, and the world’s largest steelmaker, China Baowu Steel Group, recently completed the first integrated paperless letter of credit (LC) and eDocs transaction combining EFFITRADE’s digital LC capabilities with CargoDocs’ digital drafting, title transfer and presentation functionalities.

The transaction covered the sale of iron ore by Hamersley Iron, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto in Australia, to Baoshan Iron and Steel, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Baowu Steel Group in China,  supported by CargoDocs network bank, DBS Bank, acting as both advising and issuing bank.

The digital trade transaction was executed through end-to-end data flow from the LC managed in EFFITRADE (China Baowu’s cross-border trade financial services platform), to shipping/trade documentation drafting, management, transfer and presentation powered by CargoDocs.

Digital trade transaction highlights:

Rio Tinto users accessed a single, integrated solution to manage all digital LC and electronic bill of lading (eB/L) processes. This allowed its users to eliminate data re-entry, minimize costly errors, and bridge ‘digital islands’, while significantly speeding up transaction turnaround time.

In addition, 100% of documents required under the LC were presented electronically, with one single-source original electronic bill of lading (eB/L) plus supporting documents digitally transmitted across the two platforms between all trade participants. As a result, security and transaction visibility were markedly enhanced, and paper-related fraud risks plus legal risks arising from issuing discharge LOIs were eliminated.

Furthermore, the recent trade marked the first ever EFFITRADE-CargoDocs integrated transaction. By combining EFFITRADE’s digital LC with CargoDocs eB/L and supporting docs, trade participants benefited from speedier transfer of all digital docs & data across the chain, slashing presentation time from weeks to days/hours and ensuring swift cargo discharge.

We look forward to continuing to support our customers’ digital trade & trade finance efforts, and, through our collaboration with integration partners such as EFFITRADE, provide simple and secure ways for customers to connect previously siloed data and execute transactions with added visibility, efficiency, and speed.