MIDLAND, Mich. — In mid-May, ATOFINA, BASF, Bayer, BP Amoco, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Mitsui Chemicals, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Rhodia, Rohm and Haas, Sumitomo Chemical and Van Waters & Rogers announced an agreement to create a new business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce company that will operate an on-line marketplace for the worldwide chemical industry. The size of the targeted market is estimated to be $400 billion. In early June, the on-line chemical marketplace initiative further announced a major expansion of its global presence. Ashland Distribution Co., Brenntag, Chemcentral, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Celanese and Shell Chemical Co. have agreed in principle to participate in the venture.
The B2B company will be uniquely positioned to leverage the assets and industry experience of the world’s leading chemical firms, creating a robust, on-line marketplace that will address supply-chain inefficiencies and offer integrated solutions and services for buying and selling basic, intermediate, specialty and fine chemicals.