Int’l Consortium Uses Blockchain to Conduct USD12m Wheat Trade Deal

American agriculture giant Cargill says it has teamed up with Singaporean and Dutch companies to conduct a pioneering, cross-continental wheat trade transaction worth USD 12 million – from North America to Southeast Asia on a blockchain platform.

The deal involved Singapore-based agriculture and food solutions provider Agrocorp, as well as blockchain platform provider dltledgers, also from Singapore.

A total of six trading partners took part in the shipment. And, per a press release, the deal goes to show how commodity traders can use blockchain technology to ensure food supply chains remain robust despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic – and demonstrates how the technology could help parties could even accelerate shipping processes.

The shared digital ledger transaction took five days to settle, and was carried out in partnership with Dutch banking and financial services company Rabobank. Conventional wheat trading processes can typically take up to a month, claimed the parties.

Rabobank says that it estimates that the global trade finance industry is worth USD 10 trillion, meaning there is considerable growth potential for blockchain adoption in the sector.

The Singaporean blockchain firm says that, since the first transaction went live on its platform in early 2018, it has executed more than USD 2.2 billion worth of live trade finance transactions involving some 400 traders, as well as more than 55 banks and tertiary partners. Some of the company’s customers include Mitsui, Shiseido, Wilmar, Wipro Unza and ANZ.

Abhinav Vijay, Sustainability Manager at Agrocorp, stated,

“We have been engaging in digital trade execution using blockchain for over 18 months now. Considering the current world climate and the logistical challenges to move physical documents around the globe, this is just a start and we hope to execute more trades via the platform in the near future.”

Jennifer Davidson, Trade Execution Lead at Cargill, stated that the group saw the transaction as “the latest example of how working together and using technology to solve challenges can improve trade, as well as traceability, food safety and nutrition.”