Japanese firms Toray International, a chemical and textiles company and Mitsui Soko, a warehousing company, have signed up to the Bolero Internet trade finance platform.
Toray International deals in synthetic fibres, plastics, chemicals and composite materials. The company intends to use bolero.net to coordinate communications between its headquarters, group companies, trading partners, and the forwarders, carriers and banks it operates with. It currently has an international network of 84 bases and 121 bases in Japan.
With more than 60 locations worldwide, Mitsui Soko provides a full schedule of service options including international logistics, ocean shipping, air freight forwarding, customhouse brokerage, trade fair logistics, surface transportation and warehousing. Mitsui Soko says it will use bolero.net to improve operating efficiencies and ensure trading documents are exchanged securely and without delay.
Kei Fujioka, manager of logistics information technology division, Mitsui Soko, comments: "With bolero.net we expect to reduce costs and increase revenues by improving our customer service standards through responsiveness and administration efficiencies."
The two companies have jointly initiated a phased testing of bolero.net on shipments from Japan to Toray International US based subsidiaries.
Last month, bolero.net signed up five Korean bulk carriers to its trade finance platform, to support a $500 million metals and mining chain from Australia to the Far East.