First digitalised end-to-end secured Letter of Credit transaction
Contour and DBS have completed the first fully digital end-to-end secured Letter of Credit (LC) between Nanjing Iron & Steel, Singapore Jinteng International and Hope Downs Marketing Company (an equal Joint Venture between Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting). This resulted in reduced trade document turnaround times and provided greater transparency with all parties having access to real-time status updates at each step of the transaction.

The first paperless iron ore trade on the Contour platform
Baosteel and Rio Tinto, supported by DBS Bank, Contour, Chinsay, essDOCS, have completed the first paperless trade in the iron ore industry transacted in Chinese Renminbi (RMB). This transaction showcases DBS’ digital initiatives in supporting customers in enhancing efficiency and security of cross-border trade finance flow through integrated end-to-end paperless solution, at a time when delivery of physical documentation is challenging.

Financing New Energy Battery Metals 
DBS successfully financed 2 smelters producing Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate in Papau New Guinea and Indonesia. These projects demonstrated our support for the nascent global supply chain in battery metals, as well as our commitment to sustainability. 

Commodity hedging & clearing: DBS is among the top banks with capacity to provide commodity hedging solution and clearing services, clearing iron ore contracts with annual volume of approximately 100 - 200 million tonnes.

2020 – Structured Finance: DBS has led and arranged a number of structured financing deals including pre-payment and pre-shipment finance for global traders and large-scale smelters/refineries including India and China.
 
For example, we have recently arranged and structured a 5-year pre-export advance (PEF) facility for a large-scale steel mill (Seller) in Asia against its supply contract of steel products to an international metal trading house (Off-taker).

This structure allows the Seller to raise financing through an intermediary Buyer (Off-taker) by way of assignment of the rights under the Sales & Purchase contracts and Advance Payment & Supply Agreement.

2019 – Financial Advisor and Lead Financing Bank of a US$960 million limited recourse project financing based in Indonesia for Phase 1 and 2 of Alumina Refinery.

2019 – Hedging coordinator for a Group of Lenders for an Indonesia based transaction for up to 7 years in Cross-Currency Swap (CCS) for notional amount of US$380 million.