POSCO International is formally beginning work to convert bills of lading, a core document in international trade transactions, from paper to electronic documents. The plan is to build a cooperative framework involving shipping lines, logistics companies, financial institutions, and e-trade platform operators to expand the digital transformation of trade operations overall.

■ e-B/L Consortium Formed with ZIM, Hana Bank, KTNET, and Others

On the 25th, POSCO International signed a business agreement at POSCO Center in Seoul with POSCO FLOW, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., Hana Bank, Korea Trade Network (KTNET), and Taewung Logistics to promote the activation of electronic bills of lading (e-B/L).

With this agreement as an opportunity, the participating companies will form an e-B/L consortium and cooperate in building the infrastructure necessary for issuing and circulating electronic bills of lading. They plan to broaden the usage base for shippers and financial institutions, while also responding jointly to institutional improvements and the legislative process.

■ Paper Bills of Lading Take 5-10 Days Just to Deliver... Costs, Loss, and Forgery Risks

A bill of lading is a key document in international trade that certifies cargo receipt, ownership, and payment settlement. However, paper originals are still widely used at trade sites, and the process of passing them among exporters, importers, shipping lines, and banks takes considerable time.

According to POSCO International, existing paper bills of lading generally take about 5 to 10 days to be delivered to stakeholders. Since international express delivery is required, cost burdens arise, and problems such as late arrival or loss of documents can occur. Due to the nature of paper documents, the risk of forgery and alteration must also be managed.

An electronic bill of lading converts this procedure online. Instead of a paper original, a digital document is issued so that stakeholders can verify and transact electronically. The company expects that once e-B/Ls are fully utilized, document circulation time, which previously took several days, can be reduced to just a few hours. It also expects effects such as reducing international delivery costs and lowering the risks of document loss or delivery delays, as physical movement of documents disappears.

■ All Trade Parties Included... Expansion into Digitalization of Trade Finance

A feature of this consortium is that the key parties participating in the trade process are joining together. POSCO International, a general trading company, along with shipping lines, logistics companies, banks, and e-trade infrastructure operators, will develop ways to utilize electronic bills of lading within a single system.

POSCO International plans to expand the digitalization of the trade finance field, using the electronic bill of lading as a starting point. Going forward, it plans to digitize trade finance documents related to export payment settlement through e-Nego, and to build a foundation for linking and utilizing various data generated during transactions.

If the digital transformation of trade operations expands, effects are expected to go beyond simply reducing paper documents, improving the processing speed and efficiency of import-export work. In particular, if data generated in shipping, logistics, and payment processes is electronically connected, transaction progress can be grasped more quickly and the scope of work automation can be expanded.

Through this collaboration, POSCO International plans to increase the practical utilization of electronic bills of lading and gradually pursue the digital transformation of trade operations overall.

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