HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 1, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Worldwide industrial services and products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today that its MultiServ mill services division has been awarded new multi-year contracts totaling nearly $100 million in projected revenues over their duration for a range of steel mill services at three mills in South America.
The awards include a major landmark contract in the province of Santa Fe in Argentina with one of that country's leading steel makers, the Villa Constitucion plant of Acindar Industria Argentina de Aceros SA, where MultiServ will operate a comprehensive on-site scrap management service.
MultiServ's new service, expected to be fully operational by the middle of 2007, will substantially improve the availability and flow of scrap materials to the mill for its Electric Arc Furnace steelmaking operations, while also supporting Acindar's plans to increase production. Scrap is a raw material to the EAF process, and accounts for a high percentage of the total cost of producing steel. MultiServ's responsibilities under the new 10-year contract will include a new high-volume scrap shredder service and a state-of-the-art, on-site scrap cutting, loading and storage operation. The Acindar works operates under Arcelor Brazil, which has made substantial investments to increase the mill's production efficiency and capacity since acquiring a controlling interest in 2001. Acindar produces a range of steel products for the manufacturing, agriculture and construction sectors in a country where the economy has recorded 9 percent annual growth in the last three years.
In Brazil, MultiServ will add to its services at Arcelor's Belgo Piracicaba works by expanding its on-site scrap handling services to include new front-end responsibilities for managing and handling the mill's incoming scrap materials prior to shredding. Belgo Piracicaba is a leading producer in Brazil's long products carbon steel sector. The new five-year contract, which also calls for an array of broad service responsibilities, continues MultiServ's long contractual relationship at the Belgo Piracicaba mill, where in addition to scrap management, MultiServ provides traditional slag pot hauling and metal recovery services.
Also in Brazil, MultiServ will introduce an around-the-clock ladle transport service at Arcelor's Belgo Mineira Juiz de Fora works, marking the division's first service entree at this mill. Under the new three-year contract, MultiServ will supply and operate specialized mobile transporters that will carry molten iron from the mill's two blast furnaces to its Electric Arc Furnace.
Announcing the awards, Harsco Chairman and CEO Derek C. Hathaway said, "These new contracts attest to Harsco's considerable organic growth opportunities within the international arena and include important new relationships from which to demonstrate our value proposition for improving operating efficiency and lowering costs for our customers. As these three contracts reflect, our organic growth opportunities include both the expansion of services at existing sites, and the introduction of services at mills we do not currently serve. Global bidding remains strong, and we look to our considerable internal cash flows and strong balance sheet to amply support Harsco's accelerating growth potential."
Harsco's MultiServ division provides the world's foremost steel producers 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.
Harsco Corporation is a diversified, worldwide company with four market-leading business groups that provide mill services, access services, engineered products and services, and gas containment and control technologies to customers around the globe. The Company employs approximately 21,000 people in 45 countries of operation and recorded 2005 sales of $2.8 billion. Harsco's common stock is a component of the S&P MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 1000 Index. Additional information about Harsco, including its MultiServ mill services division, can be found at www.harsco.com.
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