POSCO, the leading South Korean steelmaker and world’s 5th largest steel producer, recently went live with CargoDocs, completing its first ever shipment using electronic Bills of Lading (eB/Ls) for iron ore import, involving global mining group and essDOCS customer, Rio Tinto, as Exporter. The trade also marks the first ever use of the essDOCS solution for importing iron ore into South Korea.

The cargo was exported from Port Walcott, Western Australia, to the Port of Pohang, South Korea, with Rio Tinto acting as Shipper, POSCO as Receiver and Polaris Shipping as Carrier.

The original electronic Bill of Lading (eB/L) and supporting documents were handled via CargoDocs, with key actions such as drafting, collaborative review, sign, issue, endorse and surrender carried out online via the essDOCS solution – slashing trade document turnaround to minutes as opposed to days/weeks and accelerating the trade for all parties involved. 

POSCO’s go-live transaction marks yet another paperless trade milestone in the metals & minerals commodity segment, as more key metals supply chain stakeholders adopt digital trade to streamline their trade processes.

Commenting on the recent go-live transaction, Ja-Hyun Ku, General Manager of Iron Ore Group, POSCO, said: "We are pleased to be with essDOCS on this electronic platform to simplify our documentation process flows by digitizing physical paper documents."

Hiroki Fujieda, General Manager of Rio Tinto’s Iron Ore business for Japan, Korea & Taiwan, said: “We are delighted to have successfully completed the iron ore industry’s first digital transaction in South Korea with POSCO. Utilising technology and digital solutions is part of Rio Tinto’s strategy to enhance our customers’ experience and we will continue to collaborate with our customers and partners to bring the industry closer to a full digital trade future.”