E-commerce platform Metalshub facilitates cross-border financing

Metalshub, the German-based trading platform for ferroalloys, has completed a pilot-run of its in-house trade finance solution between a Belgian and a Czech entity.

This means it will soon be possible to securitise and transfer trade receivables of transactions that were concluded on the Metalshub platform, Kallanish understands. In the form of electronic promissory notes, eNotes, the securitised trade receivables can be sold for a negotiable discount rate to investors that proceed to hold the notes until maturity, Metalshub says.

“Promissory notes are an internationally recognised financial instrument that enables companies and individuals to secure financing on the legal basis of an unconditional promise to pay,” explains Frank Jackel, managing director at Metalshub.

Digitalisation and the use of blockchain technology are promising solutions to help close a critical gap in trade financing worldwide, claims Metalshub. The firm has teamed up with Swiss-based fintech company FQX for the solution.

Founded in 2016, Metalshub now has more than 1,000 companies using the platform, including more than 200 foundries and steel mills that have digitised their purchasing processes this way. In 2020, more than $300 million in purchasing volume was concluded through the platform.

Christian Koehl Germany