Internet trading sites for chemicals are one of the newest ways to sit down and do business. Although the third-party providers typically don't get involved in the transactions or handle any materials, they do link interested parties. Buyers and sellers from anywhere in the world can indicate what they want to trade and then bid or conduct their transactions through postings, e-mail, fax systems, and now--in the latest advance--in real time, 24 hours per day.

Table: Internet trading sites aim to link buyers and sellers

One of the more established sites is ChemConnect, created in 1995 and now based in San Francisco. The company will open Houston and London offices later this year. It also just hired Philip J. Ringo as its president and chief operating officer. Ringo came from Chemical Leaman Corp., where he was chairman and chief executive officer of this major transporter of chemicals.

Virtual markets know no geographic boundaries, and ChemConnect, for example, has opened up channels to small buyers in Asia and Latin America. ChemConnect reports that it had a record 70,000 user sessions in February. In the four previous months, it was averaging about 40,000 to 45,000 sessions per month. It counts 10,000 "regular users." ChemConnect claims that $15 billion worth of products has been posted on its site, with the average transaction at more than $100,000.

CheMatch, just about 16 months old, has become a major site for aromatics trading. According to Andersen Consulting, 25% of all spot-market aromatics are sold through this channel. CheMatch is open to qualified subscribers and allows for real-time, anonymous--and, it assures, secure--trading and bidding in the petrochemical spot market. The interactive online trading system serves more than 35 major chemical producers.

PetroChemNet recently acquired CheMatch from Houston-based consulting group DeWitt & Co. The two-year-old PetroChemNet of Stamford, Conn., calls itself a "communications network" for the petroleum and petrochemical industries. With partners in the consulting, market research, energy publication, and price-tracking areas, it will integrate relevant market and pricing information into CheMatch by this fall.

Such sites are being supported by an entirely new kind of Internet business, exemplified by WorldWideTesting.com. Launched in June, this Internet company offers independent, third-party sampling and testing through a global network of contracted laboratories. Orders and test results, such as certificates of analysis, are processed and delivered electronically to buyers and sellers through trading sites or its own web site. The Atlanta-based company says it can consolidate test data for particular suppliers or products to meet regional or other standards for 130 countries.

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