HARRISBURG, Pa., May 20, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Worldwide industrial services and products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today that its Harsco Track Technologies (HTT) division has secured two new international orders for railway track maintenance equipment, continuing the division's strategic growth in an increasingly broad range of international markets. The new orders from India and Mauritania are valued at close to $20 million. Shipments are scheduled to begin by early 2005 and continue through the year.
HTT will build four track renewal trains for Indian Railways, an extensive 68,000 mile (109,000 km) system that ranks as the world's largest government-owned railway network. The multi-unit track renewal trains are designed to remove old ties and rails, level and prepare the ballast, lay new ties, and thread in new rails in one continuous operation. Indian Railways already has three HTT track renewal trains in operation from previous orders.
The order from Mauritania's SNIM (Societe Nationale Industrielle et Miniere) iron ore mining operation calls for the construction of a mainline rail grinding machine that will be used to reprofile rail contours and extend rail life on the heavily-used 435 mile (700 km) industrial railway linking SNIM's inland mining center with port facilities on the Atlantic coast. The order is HTT's first from this customer, and also marks HTT's first sale of mechanized rail grinding equipment in the African market following smaller orders for ballast tamping machines and other equipment. Additional opportunities for HTT equipment sales are anticipated.
Harsco Corporation is a $2.1 billion, diversified industrial services and engineered products company employing approximately 17,500 people in more than 40 countries of operation. Harsco's market-leading businesses provide mill services, access services, gas and fluid control products, and other infrastructure products and services to customers worldwide. The Harsco Track Technologies division serves as a leading global source for over 140 types and models of work equipment and services used in the maintenance, renewal, and new construction of railway track. Additional information about Harsco, including its Harsco Track Technologies division, can be found at www.harsco.com.
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