From left: Lee Jeong-hyeon, head of Hana Bank's division; Cho Yong-jun, chief executive of Taewoong Logistics; Jeong Gyeong-jin, head of POSCO International's management planning division; Kim Sang-hun, division head of KTNET; Lee Jae-hun, chief executive of ZIM; and Kwon Yeong-ju, head of new business innovation at POSCO Flow, pose for a photo at the signing ceremony. [POSCO International]
From left: Lee Jeong-hyeon, head of Hana Bank's division; Cho Yong-jun, chief executive of Taewoong Logistics; Jeong Gyeong-jin, head of POSCO International's management planning division; Kim Sang-hun, division head of KTNET; Lee Jae-hun, chief executive of ZIM; and Kwon Yeong-ju, head of new business innovation at POSCO Flow, pose for a photo at the signing ceremony. [POSCO International]

POSCO International announced Wednesday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with POSCO Flow, global shipping line ZIM, Hana Bank, Korea Trade Network (KTNET) and Taewoong Logistics on Tuesday at POSCO Center in Seoul to officially launch an electronic bill of lading (e-B/L) consortium.

The consortium members plan to jointly build infrastructure for issuing and trading e-B/Ls, and will cooperate on improving related regulations and advancing legislation.

POSCO International, which leads the consortium, will oversee the broader rollout of e-B/Ls and spearhead the digitization of trade finance. POSCO Flow will manage POSCO International's container shipping contracts and support negotiations between shipping lines and cargo owners to expand e-B/L issuance. ZIM will support e-B/L issuance and platform integration and distribution, while KTNET will operate the electronic trade platform for e-B/L distribution and handle connections to trade finance systems. Hana Bank will provide advisory services on trade finance processes and cooperate on related financial services, and Taewoong Logistics will support logistics operations and the e-B/L issuance process.

A bill of lading (B/L) is a core trade document that serves as the basis for cargo ownership and payment settlement. Most are currently issued as paper originals and must pass through exporters, importers, shipping lines and banks — a process that typically takes five to 10 days. Along the way, international courier costs are incurred, and risks of delivery delays, document loss and forgery exist.

The e-B/L was developed to address these shortcomings by replacing paper originals with digital documents and processing issuance and transactions online. Once e-B/Ls are widely adopted, the document circulation time — currently five to 10 days — could be cut to within a few hours, POSCO International said. International courier and document-handling costs are also expected to fall by up to 80 percent.

In July, POSCO International conducted a pilot test using ZIM's e-B/L platform WaveBL on a shipment of automotive parts exported from Busan to Charleston in the United States. A review of the bill of lading issuance, trading and cargo delivery process confirmed that the system could reduce document transit times and related costs while lowering the risk of document loss and forgery.

POSCO International plans to apply e-B/Ls to its import and export operations in stages. The company also intends to build an electronic negotiation (e-Nego) framework to digitize trade finance procedures — including the purchase of export bills of exchange — with the aim of strengthening end-to-end digital connectivity across document preparation, logistics, finance and payment collection.

"This consortium will set a new standard for a Korean-style e-B/L ecosystem by combining the trade expertise we have accumulated over decades as a general trading company with the country's leading electronic trade and finance partners," said Jeong Gyeong-jin, head of POSCO International's management planning division. "Beyond simply digitizing documents, we will accelerate the digital transformation of the entire trade process and contribute to enhancing the nation's logistics competitiveness."


yeongdai@heraldcorp.com