The main announcement was a strategic partnership with Sucden (UK), a commodity, financial futures and options broker. Sucden will help PaperExchange.com members to hedge pulp derivative futures and manage their exposure to price risk. The site will have an information page to explain the hedging market to users. Members who indicate an interest in trading will be referred to Sucden, which will set up trading on PULPEX. Sucden will also provide commentary on the pulp market.

PaperExchange.com announced an alliance with SGS, which is launching its SGSonSITE or Safe Internet Trading Environment. This service will provide users with information on paper suppliers product quality ratings and delivery performance. It will be extended to PaperExchange.coms soon-to-be-launched dispute resolution service, where SGS will offer independent inspection and testing of paper when required.

PaperExchange.coms European managing director, Colin Carroll, said the firm now employed 23 staff in Europe since it set up its London headquarters in January. He expects that figure to rise to 75 by the end of the year. The site currently operates in six European languages, and Carroll said others were being developed, including Turkish.

The firm has also set up an alliance with The Economist, which will see the magazine publish articles on European economic conditions, business-to-business e-commerce, and the paper market on PaperExchange.com.