BIMCO launched the "25 by 25 pledge", a commitment by some of the world’s biggest shippers in the bulk sector to target moving 25% of their annual seaborne trade volume for at least one commodity using electronic bills of lading by 2025. The pledge is part of an ongoing effort to accelerate trade digitalisation and streamline the supply chain process in the bulk sector.
"The wider adoption of electronic bills of lading is an important step in the shipping industry’s digital transformation," said Grant Hunter, Director of Standards, Innovation and Research at BIMCO. "We are delighted that some major players in the dry bulk sector have already backed this community initiative to reach 25% usage across the entire bulk sector. These mining companies have made good headway with adopting eBLs over the past years, mainly with iron ore, but much more can be done," Hunter said.
“As the largest dry bulk shipper in the world, one of our ambitions has been to continuously improve the experience of doing business with Rio Tinto for our customers and supply chain through innovative end-to-end digital solutions," said Laure Baratgin, Head of Commercial Operations, Rio Tinto. "We fully support the 25 by 25 pledge on the use of electronic bills of lading – as a key step in enabling faster, more secure and traceable trade flows, and bringing the industry closer to a full digital trade future.”