HARRISBURG, Pa., May 17, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Worldwide industrial services and products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today that its MultiServ mill services division has been awarded multi-year contracts for additional outsourced services at two major steel mills in Belgium and Mexico. The contracts are projected to generate combined new revenues of more than $10 million over their duration.
In Belgium, MultiServ will add on-site scrap oxycutting to its range of services at Arcelor's all-new Carinox meltshop, the regional hub of Arcelor's stainless steel operations which is scheduled to become operational later this year. Oxycutting is used to cut large sections of steel into smaller pieces for further processing. The ten-year contract is patterned after similar MultiServ operations at three other Arcelor sites, and will include Harsco investments in a state-of-the-art fume collection system and mobile soundproof cutting hood. The new contract adds to MultiServ's service responsibilities at the Carinox site, where MultiServ also holds previously announced ten-year contracts to provide comprehensive scrap yard management, liquid slag pot carrying, and slab management services.
In Mexico, MultiServ will add oxycutting to a renewal of its ongoing services at the Grupo Simec works in Apizaco, Mexico, where MultiServ has been providing services since 1993. The new contract carries a three-year term with automatic renewal. The contract is MultiServ's first with the mill's new owners, Industrias CH (ICH) and its Grupo Simec subsidiary, which acquired the Apizaco mill from Spanish steelmaker Sidenor last year. ICH and Grupo Simec operate three other mills in Mexico where additional outsourcing opportunities may also emerge, as ICH has announced new investments earlier this year to increase the group's overall steel production by up to 13 percent.
Harsco's MultiServ division provides the world's leading steel companies with a comprehensive range of on-site services that support the entire steelmaking process, including integrated materials handling, semi-finished and finished product management, and by-product recovery and recycling. Similar services are provided to the makers of aluminum, copper and other metals. The division operates at more than 160 mills in over 30 countries, making MultiServ the world's single largest provider of on-site, outsourced mill services to the steel and metals industries.
Harsco Corporation is a $2.5 billion diversified industrial services and engineered products company whose market-leading businesses provide mill services, access services, gas containment and control technologies, and engineered products and services to customers worldwide. The company employs 18,500 people in more than 40 countries of operation. Additional information about Harsco, including its MultiServ division, can be found at http://www.harsco.com.
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