The year began with the acquisition of CheMatch, quickly followed by ChemConnect's move to Houston, Texas, in order to be closer to its customer base. Shortly thereafter, ChemConnect acquired the natural gas liquid (NGL) Trading Platform of Altra Energy, known as Chalkboard. These strategic moves were designed to bolster product liquidity and, in October, the company completed the integration of these acquisitions by launching its Commodity Markets Platform, which supports the physical and financial trading of NGLs and commodity chemicals, such as aromatics, oxygenates, and olefins.

Using ChemConnect's online auctions, Members completed more than 1,000 product negotiations. Of particular note was an increase in sell-side auctions -- comprising over 40% of the total -- as suppliers embraced ChemConnect as a cost-effective sales channel to reach current and new customers. On the purchasing side, a number of customers expanded their use of ChemConnect's online reverse auctions making them an integral part of their procurement process, with the intention of moving more than half of their direct material spend through ChemConnect auctions. In addition, new personalization features allow Members to track only the products they buy or sell. Using these features on the Trading Center, Members actively follow more than 4,700 different products to determine market conditions and identify new business partners around the world.

ChemConnect Connectivity solutions continued to expand in 2002 as the company announced a strategic partnership with GE Operation Services, now Intellitrans, for vendor managed inventory (VMI) tracking and management. Also, ChemConnect and Global eXchange Services (GXS) are exchanging electronic documents through a hub-to-hub connection enabling the transfer messages between thousands of trading partners within and outside the chemical industry. In 2002, more than 30 companies exchanged in excess of 250,000 messages via the ChemConnect hub.

ChemConnect CEO John K. Robinson attributes the success of 2002 to the company's team of professionals and the commitment of ChemConnect Members to drive business improvement in a down economy. "In a year characterized by caution, we've made tremendous progress, thanks in no small part to the vision of our customers who continue to use ChemConnect in their push to achieve operational efficiency," Robinson said. "The acquisitions and strategic partnerships we have made combined to promote product liquidity and build bridges to our customers' trading partners in other industries. We are pleased that we have helped to deliver value to our customers in 2002, and we are committed to building on this success in the year ahead as we continue to work with our Members to optimize their sales and purchasing performance."

About ChemConnect

ChemConnect is a leader in helping customers optimize their purchasing and sales processes for chemicals, feedstocks, plastics, and related products through a unique combination of market information, industry expertise, e-commerce solutions, and an active network of trading partners. More than 9,000 Member companies in multiple industries around the world can use ChemConnect's highly efficient tools and services to streamline transactions and lower costs. Visit www.chemconnect.com for more information.

Contact:

Osmosis Communications for ChemConnect
Bob Osmond, 510/540-9886
bob@osmosiscommunications.com