HARRISBURG, Pa., June 1, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Worldwide industrial services and engineered products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today that its Harsco Metals business has secured two new orders totaling close to $40 million for slag processing and onsite environmental services to the U.S. steelmaking sector.
Harsco Metals is returning to the Severstal Warren steel mill in Ohio under an all-new, five-year contract where it will undertake onsite slag handling, scrap recovery and material handling in support of the mill's recently resumed production. Harsco Metals' return follows a more than 60-year presence at this location that continued up until late 2008 when the mill was idled by the economic crisis facing the global and North American steel industry. The plant, owned by Severstal North America since July 2008, resumed production in March 2010 in response to the improving market conditions and increased demand for the mill's specialty products. Severstal Warren produces custom, alloy and ultra strength steel products. The contract also calls for Harsco to handle the external marketing of Severstal Warren's slag by-products for a range of commercial applications.
This latter role parallels Harsco's second new order, where the Company will undertake the processing of more than one million tons of stockpiled blast furnace slag in Utah over the next three years. The slag will be used in the state's bridge and highway construction programs, following its acceptance for use by the Utah Department of Transportation. Slag is considered to be an excellent material choice for road construction and a range of other commercial applications due in part to its exceptional durability and inherent characteristics for forming strong interlocking structures. Harsco will process the material from abandoned slag stockpiles left behind at the former Geneva Steel mill in Vineyard, Utah, the site of an ongoing "brownfield" remediation initiative.
Harsco is currently engaged in a similar project in Gadsden, AL where, in close cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Harsco is handling the remediation of an estimated three million tons of stockpiled slag left behind by the former Gulf States Steel works that closed down in 1999. The Gadsden project is believed to be the largest sustainable remediation project of its type in the U.S., and Harsco's involvement has been described by the EPA as a potential model for other large-scale cleanup sites across the United States.
Harsco Corporation is one of the world's leading diversified industrial services and engineered products companies, serving key industries that play a fundamental role in worldwide economic growth. Harsco's common stock is a component of the S&P MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 1000 Index. Additional information can be found at http://www.harsco.com/">www.harsco.com.
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