Emetra Ltd. launched February 2000 and closed April 2002, ending nonferrous metals trading at www.emetra.com. The firm's initial goal was to create a metals derivatives venture, but that never took off so the firm refocused on development of a copper and aluminum sales platform. However, volumes failed to reach critical mass, hampered by sluggish markets for industrial metals such as copper and aluminum during the global economic slowdown. The official Emetra statement: "While the Web site enjoyed a great deal of interest from the industry, this failed to produce sufficient trading activity on the site." Actually, the demise of Emetra is just the latest in a long line of metals electronic commerce ventures that have crashed. All were launched in the dot.com gold rush of 1999-2000—and all failed to live up to expectations. Predictions that e-commerce would revolutionize the steel and nonferrous metals business haven't come true because the market has proved stubbornly resistant to change. In a nutshell, neither metals suppliers nor metals buyers are willing to give a significant role to online metals trading, electronic documentation and end-to-end contract management.

stundza@cahners.com