A new B2B trading platform operated by specialty chemicals producer Evonik, which opened trials late last year under the name C4Buy, is gearing up for full-time operation, the Essen, Germany-based group said.

Customers for products manufactured by Evonik’s Performance Intermediates (PI) business segment soon will have round the clock access to product offers, purchase orders and invoices and also submit bids for spot quantities of specific PI products via C4Buy.

Products now for sale on the platform are primarily C4-based materials for the rubber, plastics and specialty chemicals market, including methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) an anti-knocking agent for gasoline production, in addition to n-butane and 1,3-butadiene.

As a key part of the process, Evonik Performance Materials is working with customers to develop digital solutions for transforming conceptual ideas into workable solutions.

The complementary services “keep gaining relevance in addition to product offerings,” Evonik said.  Along with getting an overview of their business relationship, customers will have online access to contract documents and can participate in an interactive planning process.

Since the first tests of the system with pilot customers, larger numbers of customers have been accessing the C4Buy platform, and a formal roll-out is planned for some time this year.

The group plans to begin offering additional products over the course of this year, and this, it said,  will go hand in hand with further enhancement of the platform.