Bolero ePresentation solution achieved a major savings in time and cost on a complex shipment of iron ore from Australia to China in November 2016 for Cargill, the worldwide provider of food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services. This transaction was handled by Cargill’s Metals business with operations in Singapore and China.

The 202,340 tonne iron ore shipment documentation arrived at the destination port of Qingdao using Bolero’s ePresentation solution including Electronic Bills of Lading (eBL), removing any possible requirement for a letter of indemnity, reducing cost and speeding up the release of the cargo. This highly complex, multi-party end-to-end shipment was the first completed using electronic bills of lading for Cargill’s Metals business.

“The speed and efficiency of this transaction allowed for the fast release of our cargo and better served our customers” said Jaslynn Tan, trade execution lead for Cargill’s Metals business. “We are pleased to have worked with Bolero on this project and continue to explore digitalisation to improve speed of execution while upholding the integrity of our documentation.” 

The ore originated in Australia and was carried by U-Ming Marine, having been bought by Cargill for shipment to China. The transaction required the involvement of ANZ bank branches in Melbourne and Shanghai along with banks in Singapore and Sydney.

“Despite the potential complications of multiple corporate counterparties and banks in different continents, the eBL still arrived at the destination before the cargo,” said Ian Kerr, CEO, Bolero. “Cargill have really set the pace with this shipment, showing how this solution out performs the traditional paper processes, even when at the centre of a complex transaction that includes parties that had never used Bolero before.”

Bolero ePresentation is already deploying the solution to facilitate major transactions in agricultural products around the globe.