The BHP Group, one of the largest mining companies in the world, sold $ 14 million worth of iron ore using a blockchain platform.
A mineral sale transaction was concluded between BHP and China Baowu Steel Group, a subsidiary of China Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel). The $ 14 million transaction was conducted through a blockchain-based platform developed by Canadian technology company MineHub Technologies. BHP’s Director of Trade and Marketing, Michiel Hovers, explained that the company used blockchain to digitally process contract terms, exchange documents, and view cargo data in real time.
BHP plans to implement a blockchain to efficiently and expeditiously process documentation when making further trade transactions in the commodity markets. According to Hovers, any company sending bulk cargo in large volumes, sooner or later will switch to using the latest technologies, as they significantly reduce the time and cost of office work.
Baosteel is not the first to use distributed registry technology. In May, the company already completed an international RMB transaction with the Australian mining company Rio Tinto through the Contour trade finance platform. Last February, the BHP Group successfully tested the technology with the Japanese transport company NYK.
Blockchain is effectively used by trading companies to manage invoices and other transport documents. So, in April, AirAsia Teleport launched the Freightchain platform to simplify the process of confirming and tracking air cargo. In the same month, Shanghai International Port (SIPG), Cosco, Tesla and CargoSmart began testing a blockchain platform to track ship cargo.
