Partnership to Develop New e-Commerce Standard for Steel Industry. Integration of Prominent North American Steelmaker Dofasco Begins

e-STEEL Corporation today announced that it is teaming with two internationally-recognized technology leaders to form a strategic alliance to develop and implement integrated end-to-end e-Commerce solutions for steel industry members. The alliance with webMethods and Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC) will also produce SML (Steel Markup Language), a new open standard protocol for Internet-based electronic sharing of information between buyers and sellers of steel products.

Additionally, e-STEEL announced a strategic partnership with Dofasco Inc. one of North America's largest and most profitable steelmakers. Dofasco, a charter member and strategic investor in e-STEEL, will serve as the launch site for the integration initiative, and will be the first member to incorporate SML.

e-STEEL is the neutral, negotiation-based, online B2B exchange for the $700 billion global steel industry.

"Our mission has always been to provide the most efficient steel commerce solution for all buyers and sellers throughout the global steel value chain," said e-STEEL Founder, Chairman and CEO Michael S. Levin. "This partnership with webMethods and CSC, combined with our proprietary, STEELDIRECT(TM) technology, will give e-STEEL members a compelling business advantage, and significantly cut transaction processing costs. It will also shorten the complete sales cycles for both made-to-order and existing steel inventory," said Levin.

Currently, more than 1000 companies from all segments of the global steel value chain, including 50 steel mills, are members of the e-STEEL Exchange. Since its debut in September 1999, the global e-STEEL member base now spans more than 60 countries.

"e-STEEL offers our customers an added choice in the ways in which they may work with us and the SML enhancement, will further facilitate those transactions" said Gordon Forstner, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Dofasco Inc. "e-STEEL complements our ability to address our customers' value chain and thereby to provide solutions in steel."

Alliance Reports that SML Standard is Critical to Industry Adoption SML, which is expected to become the standard within the steel industry for B2B e-Commerce will be used to create consistencies across companies' technology platforms. Based on SML, the emerging Internet standard for data-sharing between applications, SML will enable Internet-based integration of a range of services and will facilitate stronger and significantly more cost-efficient system-to-system transactions. webMethods role in the alliance will be to provide the backbone to deliver SML, other existing XML standards, and EDI connectivity.

"webMethods is pleased to join e-STEEL and CSC in this strategic e-commerce initiative," said Phillip Merrick, president and CEO of webMethods, Inc. "This alliance supports webMethods' on-going commitment to powering the growing number of B2B marketplaces. e-STEEL has made great strides in integrating the steel supply chain and the addition of SML will further enhance the services they can provide their customers."

e-STEEL is extending its existing relationship with technology partner CSC which it has been working with since March, 1999. CSC is committed to creating B2B e-Commerce standards as evident in their work with the founding of Ontology.Org, an independent industry and research organization since May 1998, and through its more recent work with CommerceNet. As part of the alliance, CSC will help to advance SML as the standard. In addition, CSC will help assess and define the technology infrastructure and systems requirements for e-STEEL members and serve as the integrator between members' systems and the e-STEEL Exchange.

"CSC is focused on developing e-Commerce standards to further our clients' aims in deploying scaleable industry-wide B2B solutions," said Kirk Arnold, President of CSC's Consulting Group. "Systems integration, particularly across enterprise boundaries, remains a major issue, and is widely viewed as critical for broad adoption of e-Commerce throughout complex vertical industry value chains like steel. Our relationship with e-STEEL and webMethods allows us to make integration possible in one of the hottest B2B markets."

Last month, e-STEEL introduced e-STEEL 2000, a robust package of major site enhancements and new transaction efficiency tools including "Holding Bin." // This feature is the first stage of the company's integration rollout strategy. It enables members to mass post product, up to 80,000 items in less than five minutes. Through a simplified process, suppliers can now more quickly "build offers" by browsing a list of their uploaded items and simply checking off which items they want to include in their offer.

About e-STEEL New York City-based, e-STEEL Corporation (www.e-steel.com) is the premier Internet-based neutral marketplace for prime and secondary products serving the $700 billion global steel industry. Its electronic commerce solution web site unites buyers and sellers and provides an array of resources for sales and purchasing professionals throughout the steel value chain. Since launching its marketplace in September 1999, 1000 companies have become members of the e-STEEL Exchange including 50 mills. The company was founded in September 1998 and has 90 employees and as additionally offices in Chicago and Pittsburgh. e-STEEL has technology alliances with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), BroadVision, and Silknet Software. Earlier in December 1999, Goldman Sachs & Co led a strategic group of investors to provide $66 million in third-round investment financing in e-STEEL.

About webMethods, Inc. webMethods, Inc. is a leading provider of open solutions for business-to-business integration. As one of the first products to deliver XML-based e-commerce solutions, the webMethods B2B(TM) product suite leverages a variety of open Internet standards to automatically link business processes with those of key partners--without the time or expense of altering existing legacy, proprietary or ERP applications. Founded in 1996, webMethods is based in Fairfax, Va., with offices nationwide. Investors include Goldman Sachs, the Mayfield Fund and FBR Technology Venture Partners. More than 100 top companies worldwide--ranging from Dell to DHL to Cisco to Dun & Bradstreet-use webMethods B2B. The company's partners include Microsoft, SAP AG, Sterling Commerce, Ariba, KPMG LLP, Intelisys Electronic Commerce, Clarus, PSDI and MRO.com.

About CSC Computer Sciences Corporation helps clients in industry and government use information technology to achieve strategic and operational objectives. With 54,000 employees in more than 700 offices worldwide, the company tailors solutions from a broad suite of integrated service offerings, including e-business strategies and technologies; management and I/T consulting; systems development and integration; application software; and I/T and business process outsourcing. Since its formation in 1959, CSC has been known for its flexibility in its relationships with clients. Through numerous agreements with hardware and software technology firms, the company is able to identify and manage solutions specifically tailored to each client's needs. CSC had revenues of $8.2 billion for the twelve months ended Oct. 1, 1999. It's headquartered in El Segundo, California

About Dofasco Inc. Dofasco Inc. is one of North America's most innovative and successful steel makers. Dofasco's competitive advantage is its breakthrough Solutions in Steel strategy, which continues to enhance Dofasco's position as a provider of value-added steel products to meet the current and future needs of its customers. Dofasco is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol of DFS.

Dofasco Inc. P.O. Box 2460, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3J5 Telephone (905) 544-3761 Fax (905) 548-4935

Information Contact: Dofasco - Gordon Forstner 905-548-7200 ext 2200 gordon_forstner@dofasco.ca e-STEEL Corp.- Sherry Sigler, 917-464-0445 sherry@e-steel.com CSC - Lisa Meyer, 973-243-7735 lmeyer3@csc.com

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Prepared by Robin Cover for the The SGML/XML Web Page archive.

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