Market Overview

In January 2017, Geneva-based Mercuria set a cornerstone by using the technology to sell oil cargo traveling from Africa to China. By setting up a distributed ledger with all the concerned parties – in this case, ChemChina, ING, and Société Générale – each participant could simultaneously view the status of the transaction. This was from the time the trade was confirmed to its final delivery.

Since information can only be added, not removed, the authenticity of the underlying transactions was guaranteed. Blockchain even provides further protection from fraud. The fraud happened in the same company the year before, where, by providing false documents, hoaxers could falsely appropriate a cargo of metals in China.

Additionally, in contrast to the advantages of security and independence, technology's primary benefit is drastically reducing the time needed to provide ownership. Emphasizing the fact that this is also the time during which the cargo has to be financed. Consequently, the use of the new technology shows the potential to decrease costs of finance substantially. As Marco Dunand, the company’s CEO, said, “Blockchain could reduce costs, certainly on payments, by 30 percent”.

The trend towards a broader use of blockchain technology in commodity trading can only be confirmed. Since, due to the global characteristics of the industry, none of the other significant houses would like to miss the boat, it didn’t take long for other players to make their first trade based on the new digital technology. Shortly after Mercuria, in March 2017, Trafigura – in cooperation with IBM and Natixis – introduced blockchain in the US crude market. Even more recently, Louis Dreyfus brought the technology to the agricultural sector.

The previous process is relatively safe, but it is also prolonged. Consider the value of an LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) ship. Such cargo is worth approximately 40 million USD. For a vast crude carrier (VLCC) that transports 2 million barrels of oil, this value can be up to 4 times higher. Since the cargo provides high security, it is often highly leveraged (sometimes reaching 100% of bank financing).