iSteelAsia.com Signs MOU with Steelscreen to Explore Joint Developments

Hong Kong, 9th March, 2000 - iSteelAsia.com, the Hong Kong-based Asian steel trading vertical portal, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today with Steelscreen.com, the leading Internet trading site for metal products in Europe.

Steelscreen is the biggest online vertical metals marketplace in Europe. It offers online trading services in selected steel products and aluminum, targeting a predominantly European market. It shares with iSteelAsia.com a similar market strategy (to develop a neutral and independent online trading centre), a similar technology platform, similar value propositions (to reduce customers' costs and boost their trading efficiency), and a specific regional focus.

Forming a complementary partnership from their respective regional bases, iSteelAsia.com and Steelscreen plan to leverage off each other's core competence, taking the Asian and European steel trades forward in unison. Exploring several possible areas of cooperation, the two groups plan to work together to pursue their parallel business goals, building a strong synergy and enhancing inter-regional interaction.

About Steelscreen

Launched in 1999 and headquartered in Stockholm, Steelscreen is Europe's leading digital exchange for metal products such as commercial steel, stainless steel and aluminum, and the first European Web site to offer metals trading online. Founded with the support of the venture capital company Speed Ventures B.V, Steelscreen is owned jointly by its founders, Speed Ventures, the Belgian investment company Jojner B.V. and private investors, while being totally independent of shareholders, traders, and metal producers and consumers.

About iSteelAsia.com Limited
Launched in December 1999, iSteelAsia.com (iSteelAsia) was Asia's first online exchange for trading in steel and steel products. It is the first of its kind to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's GEM board in April 2000. Focused on the Asian steel community, iSteelAsia aims to offer an open and neutral marketplace for steel trading. Trading competitiveness and efficiency are optimised on iSteelAsia as players can access a full spectrum of buyers and sellers and timely market knowledge. iSteelAsia serves as a single point of contact offering financing, insurance, surveying, shipping and logistics services, providing members with a one-stop end-to-end steel trading.

To date, iSteelAsia has over 2,600 registered members who regularly use its online trading services and access into its online Reuters and Asia Information Resources News.