HARRISBURG, Pa., April 4, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Worldwide industrial services and products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today that its MultiServ mill services division has captured new multi-year service contracts in the U.S. that add to the division's growing contract backlog.
Kentucky-based North American Stainless (NAS) has awarded MultiServ a new five-year contract to take over responsibilities for on-site slag and scrap material handling services in support of the mill's melt shop and scrap yard operations. With an annual capacity in excess of 800,000 tons and plans to increase to more than one million tons within the next few years, North American Stainless ranks as the largest stainless steel producer in North America. The agreement, which begins this month, is MultiServ's first formal contract with this customer and location, although MultiServ has had a long relationship with NAS's parent, the Spain-based Acerinox Group, at mills in Europe and South Africa.
Under new contracts supporting U. S. Steel, MultiServ will screen up to two million tons of iron ore pellets per year under a new four-year agreement at U. S. Steel's Great Lakes works in Michigan, and will also assume responsibility for pellet screening services at U. S. Steel's Fairfield Works in Alabama, also under a new four-year agreement. The ore is used by the steelmaker as a feed for its blast furnaces. The contract at the Fairfield Works is MultiServ's first at this location, and also includes responsibilities for the transport of by-product millscale, an oxide layer produced on steel during hot rolling. MultiServ supports several U. S. Steel locations throughout the United States and Eastern Europe.
The new agreements are valued at more than $45 million over their duration, and add to MultiServ's growing worldwide base of long-term mill services contracts, which at year-end 2005 had a future revenue value estimated at $4.3 billion, up more than 15 percent over year-end 2004 following the inclusion of the Company's acquisition of the Northern Hemisphere mill services operations of Brambles Industrial Services in December 2005. Operating at some 160 mills in over 30 countries, MultiServ is the world's largest provider of on-site, outsourced services to the steel and metals industry. The division typically operates under renewable multi-year contracts at each location, with an average contract renewal rate in the range of approximately 90-95 percent over the past 20 years.
Harsco Corporation is a diversified, worldwide industrial services and products company with 2005 sales of $2.8 billion. The Company's four market-leading business groups provide mill services, access services, engineered products and services, and gas containment and control technologies to customers around the globe. Harsco employs approximately 21,000 people in 45 countries of operation. Additional information about Harsco, including its MultiServ mill services division, can be found at www.harsco.com.
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