<B>FiberMarket.com Set to Shut Down</B>

FiberMarket.com, one of the first Internet-based paper trading companies, appears to have ceased operations. The company, one of the earliest proponents of the Internet as a means of buying and selling paper, including recovered fiber, had been dependent on venture capital in a climate where such funding had declined sharply over the past several quarters.

The introduction of ForestExpress, a Web site backed by a group of the largest paper companies in North America, also cast doubt on the viability of the FiberMarket.com site.

Clickpaper, backed by Enron Capital, Houston, and ForestExpress pitted FiberMarket.com against operations backed by large public companies with

access to significant capital.

While FiberMarkert.com had been seeking a buyer or further financial support while it ramped up its offerings, a source at the company said that the company was faced with a major money crunch and, without a last minute infusion from an outside source would be unable to continue to operate.

Without either a company acquiring FiberMarket or receiving an infusion of capital the company is expected to officially close by the end of this month. The web site presently is down, and business is not being conducted on the site.