American Ethanol Exchange Launches AMETHEX Online Marketplace.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 20, 2001

American Ethanol Exchange today announced at the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Trade Show their plans to launch the company's new online exchange. AMETHEX (TM), an acronym for American Ethanol Exchange, is a neutral electronic marketplace designed to generate time and cost savings by improving business processes and increasing efficiencies throughout the global ethanol industry. Registered users can begin transacting through the AMETHEX trading platform on June 29, 2001.

"AMETHEX is unique in that we are the first online marketplace focused solely on trading ethanol and other alcohols," said Rory Baker, vice president of marketing and business development at AMETHEX. "Our trading platform is not a new concept in marketing but will provide an Internet-based tool for the ethanol industry using the traditional marketing concepts of bids, offers, counter-offers and open negotiation."

The most significant feature of the AMETHEX marketplace is its real-time capability. When trading through the web site, buyers and sellers will benefit from real-time secure trade negotiations and real-time price discovery as well as immediate accessibility to new buyers and sellers around the globe.

"The petroleum industry, as well as other commodities, have had the advantage of real-time price discovery available through their various forms of both cash and futures markets for many years. The ethanol industry has been in dire need of this capability and AMETHEX will provide this type of crucial information to its marketplace, " said Chet Perry, president and chief executive officer at AMETHEX. "We feel that moving the buying and selling of ethanol online is the next natural step for our industry, leveraging today's technology to improve the trading process."

AMETHEX will provide buyers and sellers of ethanol with secure trading opportunities across the globe. Once a bid has been posted, members are in full control of the trading process. A series of offers and counter-offers occurs directly between buyers and sellers until ultimately, through negotiation, an offer is accepted, rejected, withdrawn or timed out.

"We recognize how important negotiation is in any trading environment," added Baker. "AMETHEX allows buyers and sellers broader access to the global ethanol market in less time than conventional forms of trading with far quicker and better information exchange, enabling principal parties to make the best possible trades."

AMETHEX will offer a trading membership and a general membership. There is no cost for registering with AMETHEX but there will be a credit approval process for potential trading members. Trading members are granted full trading privileges that include creating bids, making offers and counter-offers and requesting information on bids. General members will have access to most trading areas on the web site but will not be granted privileges to perform trades. This allows non-decision makers within companies, industry analysts, observers and others to follow the activities of the ethanol industry.

On the technology side, American Ethanol Exchange partnered with Adeptia, Inc., a Chicago-based global integration solution provider, to develop and launch AMETHEX.

"There were three main objectives we kept in mind when designing the AMETHEX trading platform. The first was to develop a marketplace that was open to all buyers and sellers keeping all negotiations anonymous and private," said B. Shawn Mishra, chief technology officer for Adeptia, Inc. "We also felt it was important to keep the marketplace as simple and user-friendly as possible in order to minimize the learning curve for users. Finally, multiple features and functions were incorporated to maintain the level of reliability, integrity and security that exist in ethanol trading today."

The initial release of the AMETHEX platform will also provide focused industry news through news feed networks and a services partnership page with links to top service providers in the industry. In the future, AMETHEX will enhance the site with increased functionality and features such as trading rings composed of a member's preferred trading partners.

"AMETHEX has been built by industry participants with the needs of ethanol buyers and suppliers as our first priority," explained Baker. "We will measure our success by the benefits and successes we bring to our customers."

In light of the latest U.S. focus on energy conservation and fuel supply, the launch of an ethanol exchange is well timed. Recently, the Bush administration decided to force California to use ethanol as an antipollution fuel additive as part of the Clean Air Act requirement. Ethanol, a biofuel based on starch crops such as corn, is already making a significant contribution to U.S. energy security, displacing more oil than any other alternative fuel. Currently sold as a high-octane fuel that delivers improved automobile performance, ethanol also reduces air pollution and protects water quality. Additionally, ethanol is produced domestically, reducing imports of foreign oil and creating jobs in the U.S. by providing value-added markets to bolster agriculture and rural communities.

For more information about trading on AMETHEX contact a representative at [e-mail] or visit www.amethex.com.

About American Ethanol Exchange, LLC 

Based in Barrington, Ill., American Ethanol Exchange's online marketplace AMETHEX(TM), (www.amethex.com) is an online marketplace for buying and selling ethanol and other alcohols. The AMETHEX trading platform enables buyers and sellers to negotiate online in real-time with more then one counterpart simultaneously.

About Adeptia, Inc.

Adeptia, Inc. is a global integration solution provider headquartered in Chicago. Adeptia implements leading edge, end-to-end e-business solutions and enterprise and business partner integration services. Adeptia's approach provides many benefits, including rapid implementation and cost effectiveness, to its customers.