HARRISBURG, Pa., June 27, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Worldwide industrial services and products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) said today that its SGB access services division is projecting a strong order book for the second half of this year from its Middle East operations, having received new orders totaling close to $5 million to provide rental access equipment support to several major construction projects now being launched in the United Arab Emirates, in particular Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The new awards follow SGB's continuing support of the Dubai International Airport expansion program, where the division has been one of the principal providers of concrete forming equipment throughout construction of the airport's new Terminal 3, a major new facility scheduled for completion in 2006 that underpins the airport's goals for tripling its capacity to more than 70 million passengers per year. In the latest in a series of orders, SGB has been selected to provide rental concrete forming equipment for several new projects within the Dubai Airport Free Zone, an integral part of the airport expansion program covering a total land area of 1.2 million square meters (nearly 300 acres), and for work on the Burj Dubai Business Park, part of the prestigious Burj Dubai development project.
SGB has also secured major formwork orders for the new Discovery Gardens development, a 2.4 million square meter (nearly 600 acre) complex comprising 17 architecturally distinct apartment buildings in six planned residential communities, while in neighboring Abu Dhabi, SGB has been selected to provide formwork for the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.
Activity is also buoyant in the region's oil and gas sector where SGB's scaffold contracting division is a major supplier to the principal drilling rig repair specialists in the United Arab Emirates. The division has secured new orders from leading U.S. and European companies under which SGB will erect and dismantle scaffolding installations for oil rig upgrades and inspections scheduled for the third quarter of this year.
SGB division president and CEO Geoffrey D. H. Butler said the division's ongoing success in the Middle East underscores SGB's strategies for expanding its broad-based operating balance within the world's principal construction economies, in parallel with Harsco's overall operating balance. "SGB is well-positioned in terms of staffing, equipment and reputation to sustain a major role in the Middle East, not only in the United Arab Emirates, but also through our operations in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt as well as our agency/distributor relationships in other key markets in the region," Mr. Butler said.
SGB is one of the world's leading suppliers of rental scaffolding, concrete forming and other access-related equipment and services to the non-residential construction and industrial maintenance markets, with international branches in over 20 countries. Harsco's Patent Construction Systems division provides similar services throughout its branches in North America. The two divisions posted combined worldwide sales last year in excess of $700 million, a new record for the Access Services operating segment.
Harsco Corporation is a diversified, worldwide industrial services and products company with annual sales in excess of $2.5 billion. Harsco's four market-leading business groups provide mill services, access services, engineered products and services, and gas containment and control technologies to customers worldwide. The company employs 18,500 people at over 400 locations in more than 40 countries of operation. Additional information about Harsco, including its Access Services segment businesses, can be found at www.harsco.com.
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