iSteelAsia, Steelscreen Jointly Develop B2B Portals

By Katherine Lam Associate Editor, asia.internet.com

[March 10, 2000--HONG KONG] iSteelAsia.com, a HK-based steel trading portal for Asia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Thursday with steelscreen.com, a trading portal for metal products in Europe.

Headquartered in Stockholm, Steelscreen offers online trading services for metal products such as commercial steel, stainless steel and aluminum.

The company is supported by the venture capital company Speed Ventures BV and is owned jointly by its founders - Speed Ventures, the Belgian investment company Jojner BV, and private investors.

iSteelAsia.com is founded by HK-based Van Shung Chong Holdings Ltd along with iMerchants Ltd. The company gains its support from 20 steel industry enterprises. Since its launch in December 1999, iSteelAsia has registered over 860 members.

iSteelAsia.com aims to offer Asia's steel community an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of steel products. The firm claims its users can access a vast range of clients and make huge economies in cost, time and efficiency through the online trading system.

Both Steelscreen and iSteelAsia have similar philosophies for their business model, technology platform, value propositions, and a specific regional focus.

Forming a complementary partnership, the two companies say they plan to leverage off each other's core competence, taking the Asian and European steel trades forward in unison.