Internet-based trade finance platform bolero.net has signed up four leading companies in the metals and mining industry.
Since the New Year, pilot trials have been carried out involving BHP Billiton; Rio Tinto subsidiary, Hamersley Iron; South Korean steel company Posco and Japan’s Nippon Steel on exports of iron ore and coal from Australia to Japan and South Korea.
The four organisations say they will start using the Bolero System for live exports in quarter three of this year.
Posco states: "We expect to see large savings as a result of the faster transmission of documents, greater security and common standards. This is a ‘first’ for the steel industry and we would encourage other raw materials suppliers and steel makers to adopt the same platform."
The current average industry cost of clearing a purchase order is anywhere between $50 and $100. Over the Internet it is predicted that these costs can be reduced to a fraction of that.