HARRISBURG, Pa., June 7, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Worldwide industrial services and products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today that its MultiServ mill services division continues to expand its international scope with the award of its first contract in Peru and two new contracts for add-on services in Central Europe at U. S. Steel Serbia.
The new contracts are expected to generate combined revenues of close to $25 million over their duration.
In its first-ever contract in Peru, MultiServ will initiate a new metal recovery operation at SiderPeru, an integrated mill that is Peru's largest steel producer. Based in Chimbote, north of Lima, SiderPeru produces steel slabs, hot and cold rolled flats, billets, rebar and grinding bars for the local construction and industrial markets as well as the local and export mining markets. Over the years, the mill has accumulated a substantial on-site stockpile of recoverable material, which MultiServ will now process for its reusable metallic content, providing the mill with a significant cost savings from the rapidly rising prices of commercially purchased scrap. The anticipated four-year operation is already leading to additional discussions relating to the mill's requirements for on-site scrap management and slag handling services. "We are excited by the enthusiastic interest and professional approach we have found at SiderPeru and look forward to establishing a successful, long-term service relationship with them and other potential customers in Peru," said Percy Oliver, MultiServ's Vice President for Latin America.
In Central Europe, MultiServ has been awarded two contracts for additional services at U. S. Steel Serbia as that mill continues to increase production towards a targeted capacity of 2.4 million tons per year. The contracts come in addition to the previously announced 10-year main services contract awarded to MultiServ last year, soon after U. S. Steel's acquisition of the Serbian operations. Under these latest awards, MultiServ will increase its role to include additional scrap processing, blast furnace pit digging, and melt shop services, also for a 10-year period, while over the next three years MultiServ will process an existing, on-site stockpile of desulphurization slag for its re-usable metallic content, utilized by the mill in the production of new steel.
In addition, MultiServ has been awarded a 10-year renewed contract of its ongoing mill services to U. S. Steel Kosice, Slovakia's largest steelmaking operation and the second largest in Central Europe, where MultiServ provides a range of on-site material handling, slag processing, and metal recovery services.
"These contracts provide further evidence of our global opportunities for continued, strategic growth, working in partnership with the industry's leading players in expanded, long-term relationships," said Geoffrey D. H. Butler, MultiServ President and CEO. Harsco's MultiServ division provides the world's leading steel companies with a comprehensive range of 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 some 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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