ChemConnect Expands Commodities Floor Offering as Trading Tops $1 Billion.

Business Editors

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 26, 2001

Company Introduces New Product Pits and Swap Trading Opportunities as

Commodity Buyers and Sellers Trade More Than 2.5 Million

Metric Tons of Product This Year

ChemConnect Inc., the company that provides the only end-to-end e-commerce solution for buyers and sellers of chemicals and plastics worldwide, today released new figures showing that year-to-date transactional value in its Commodities Floor trading pits has topped $1 billion. At the same time, the company announced the addition of gasoline blendstock and PVC pits and introduced new swap opportunities for bulk commodities trading.

Offering pre-qualified Members opportunities to trade standard, high-volume commodity products, ChemConnect's Commodities Floor now has 16 trading pits. More than 2.5 million metric tons of product have traded so far this year, with average transaction values of $1.3 million. The new gasoline blendstocks complement the MTBE trading pit, which has experienced a particularly high level of activity in the past few months. The PVC pit heralds the arrival of the first plastics pit on the Commodities Floor, and was introduced as a result of Members' feedback.

Another Commodities Floor enhancement is the introduction of online swap trading capabilities. Now, producers, consumers, traders, and distributors of commodity chemicals and plastics can use the immediacy and ease of online opportunities to swap physical cargos of product, based on delivery time or geographical constraints. This practice, traditionally completed by phone and fax communications, can now be done online, either by Members themselves, or through the services of ChemConnect's Universal Chemical Brokerage.

"We've topped the billion dollar transactional value mark in commodities trading and we're determined to continue to expand these solutions, along with the full range of our 'Marketplace Plus' offerings," said John Robinson, ChemConnect CEO. "Thanks to our recent merger with Envera, we are the unmatched go-to solution for online global buying and selling opportunities combined with end-to-end connectivity and collaboration across the supply chain."

In addition to standard, high-volume petrochemical products, including benzene, toluene, mixed xylenes, para-xylene, methanol, styrene, propylene, ethylene, MTBE, and naphtha, ChemConnect's Commodities Floor now allows pre-qualified Members to trade gasoline blendstocks (alkylate, ethanol, natural gasoline, raffinate and reformate) and PVC.

About ChemConnect

ChemConnect, Inc. provides the only end-to-end e-commerce solution for buyers and sellers of chemicals and plastics worldwide. Supporting the front end of the supply chain, from developing buy/sell strategies to finding new trading partners and negotiating, ChemConnect's World Chemical Exchange offers its Members a dynamic and robust online marketplace. Members have a choice of three sales and procurement solutions designed to meet specific business requirements. The Envera Network facilitates business among trading partners by providing a single point of contact for order fulfillment, financial settlement, and monitoring and tracking of the transaction. For more information visit www.chemconnect.com.

Note to Editors: ChemConnect is a registered trademark of ChemConnect, Inc. All other product, trademark, company or service names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.