Accenture, ING, ABN Amro, Anglo American to launch Forcefield commodities blockchain consortium

Today sees the formal announcement of Forcefield, the rumored metals post-trade blockchain consortium. Participants include Accenture, ABN Amro, Anglo American, CMST International, Hartree Partners, ING Bank, Mercuria and OCBC Bank. While metals are the initial focus, it plans to expand to other dry bulk commodities.

The companies mentioned are the ones that have so far signed a Memorandum of Understanding with more participants pending. The London Metals Exchange (LME) is not on the list and was rumored to be one of the founding members. The consortium says that it is open to all market participants.

ABN Amro, ING and Mercuria are also members of oil blockchain solution VAKT and the komgo commodities trade finance platform. ING is also a member of numerous other blockchain initiatives.

The Forcefield project is an inventory management system that will implement blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and near-field communication (NFC) for post-trade processing. Accenture is the technology partner.

“The full supply chain is represented in the product design by incorporating input from existing, and pipeline, consortium members and users,” said Mark Bradley, who has been co-ordinating Forcefield on behalf of the consortium members. Bradley was previously with the LME for almost nine years, latterly as SVP until 2015. He also worked at Mercuria for two years.

Forcefield’s aims include securing title to goods, efficiency and risk reduction of handling physical inventory. Sustainable sourcing is the motivation of other blockchain solutions and is one of the consortium’s goals.

“Forcefield’s focus on securing inventory should promote industry growth to the benefit of all in the supply chain while also allowing a platform for senior industry players to drive forward the important environmental, social, and governance agenda,” said Marco Dunand, co-founder and CEO of Mercuria.

The project has been developed for 12 months as a proof of concept by Accenture. It has now incorporated.

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