VALE CONDUCTS 1ST BLOCKCHAIN TRANSACTION
Cargo of 170,000 tonnes of Brazilian blend fines will be delivered to China
VALE S.A., has performed its first blockchain transaction for a cargo of 170,000 tonnes of Brazilian blend fines from the Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal (TRMT) in Lumut to China.
It is completed in collaboration with Nanjing Steel Group International Trade Co Ltd, Contour, eSS-Docs, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd and DBS Bank Ltd.
Vale Malaysia Minerals Sdn Bhd chief executive Rodrigo Ribeiro de Araújo said TRMT played a pivotal role in Vale’s global supply chain by creating greater flexibility for its clients in China, the world’s largest iron ore market.
“The milestone represents a major step forward in Vale’s foray into the digital economy and underlines the capability of the Malaysian digital financial ecosystem in coming up with innovative solutions for cross-border trade,” he said yesterday.
Vale said it was also a big step towards the digitalisation of the sales and trade finance process, bringing innovation to the traditional paper-intensive trade transactions and offering a better service to its clients, as well as predictability in the steel value chain.
The achievement is aligned with Vale’s strategy of becoming a more innovative and customer-centred company through greater integration with clients and partnering for the development of new solutions.
Vale said this paved the way towards greater efficiency and cost reduction for all parties.
A letter of credit (LC) was issued through the Contour blockchain platform, while the shipping documents and the electronic bill of lading were transferred via eSS DOCS through a single platform.
Vale said the systems were integrated, enabling transparency with real-time visibility of the documentation to stakeholders and reducing the number of email sand paperwork exchanged among the parties.
Standard Chartered Malaysia managing director and chief executive officer Abrar A. Anwar said the transaction was the bank’s first blockchain-enabled LC in the country.
“This milestone is significant as we are supporting Vale in its first blockchain LC transaction.
“This demonstrates the bank’s commitment and digital capability in supporting cross-border trade using cutting-edge technology platforms,” he said.
As a founding member of Contour, the bank benefits from the latter ’s network which simplifies the LC process, delivering shorter settlement times, instant discrepancy resolution and simplified sanctions screening.