Feb. 9, 2007 — Although the exact location has not yet been determined, ThyssenKrupp’s new state-of-the-art steel/stainless steel manufacturing and processing facility won’t be built in Arkansas.

ThyssenKrupp has been conducting extensive due diligence and negotiations over the past few months with the states of Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana regarding a new $2.9 billion facility that will be a joint venture of two Group segments, ThyssenKrupp Steel and ThyssenKrupp Stainless, both based in Duisburg, Germany.

The search has now been narrowed to two states, Alabama and Louisiana. ThyssenKrupp says it has decided not to pursue the site in Arkansas based on the criteria it has been using in a lengthy site selection process, including such factors as the geological characteristics that would impact plant design and construction costs, as well as energy costs and logistical considerations.

“Arkansas made an excellent proposal, and has many important and valuable attributes for business development,” said Peter Urban, Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp Steel. “However, based on the criteria we developed after much study, we are moving forward with Alabama and Louisiana at this time,” he said.

Jürgen Fechter, Chairman of the ThyssenKrupp Stainless Executive Board and Member of the ThyssenKrupp AG Executive Board, added, “ThyssenKrupp is committed to the new facility as the Nafta market is an integral part of our overall global strategy.” In the coming years the North American market is expected to show above-average growth for both high-grade flat carbon steel and stainless steel products, he said.

The new joint venture facility will manufacture and process carbon and stainless steel for high-value applications by manufacturers in the United States and throughout North America. The plant will serve industries including automotive, packaging, construction, electrical and utility, in addition to serving manufacturers of appliances, precision machinery and engineered products.

The new facility will have an annual capacity of 4.5 million tonnes of end products. It will include a hot strip mill that will be used primarily to process slabs from the company’s new steel mill in Brazil. The facility will also include a stainless steel meltshop with an annual first-phase capacity of up to one million tonnes of slabs, which will be also processed on the hot strip mill.

The new U.S. plant will also feature cold rolling and hot-dip coating capacity for high-quality end products of flat carbon steel. The cold rolling facility will be designed initially to produce 325,000 tonnes of cold strip and 100,000 tonnes of pickled hot strip. The stainless plant will also provide ThyssenKrupp Mexinox in San Luis Potosí (Mexico) with their required pre-material, i.e. 340,000 tonnes of hot band.

The new plant complex, which is expected to begin operations in 2010, is considered to be one of the largest private industrial development projects in the United States over the next decade. During construction, the facility will create upwards of 29,000 jobs. When it is fully operational, the plant will employ 2,700 people. Over a 20-year period, the facility is expected to yield an additional 38,000 to 52,000 indirect jobs.

ThyssenKrupp has not yet made a decision about the final site, but expects to complete the site selection process as expeditiously as possible. “We are still reviewing a wide range of factors,” Fechter said, adding, “Public officials in all three states have been extraordinarily cooperative and responsive as we have conducted our review and analysis. We could not have asked for better working relationships or a better environment in which to perform this complex due diligence and investigative process.”

“We recognize this announcement comes as a disappointment to many people in Arkansas,” continued Fechter, “particularly those who had worked so hard on development proposals. But we believe the economic ripple effects of the new plant will benefit the wider regional economy as well.”

“We look forward to working with officials in both Alabama and Louisiana as we move forward to complete this important process,” Urban concluded.

Based in Duesseldorf, Germany, The ThyssenKrupp Group is a global technology company that consists of five business segments: Steel, Stainless, Technologies, Elevator and Services. The company has annual sales of approximately €47 billion (US$61 billion) and employs 188,000 employees in over 70 countries worldwide.

Based in Duisburg, Germany, ThyssenKrupp Steel AG is the holding company for the Group’s carbon steel activities. It is the Group’s largest single entity, producing approximately 14 million tonnes of crude steel and generating sales of €10.7 billion (US$14 billion). This business segment is focused on high-quality carbon steel flat products and is one the world’s leading producers, ranking second in Europe. The segment employs over 30,000 people, and its subsidiaries are active in processing, coating and steel services. Subsidiaries include Rasselstein GmbH, the world’s largest tinplate production site in Andernach, Germany, and Duisburg-based ThyssenKrupp Tailored Blanks GmbH, a world market and technology leader in laser-welded blanks for the auto industry.

Also based in Duisburg, Germany, ThyssenKrupp Stainless AG is the holding company for the Group’s stainless activities. It has achieved leading market positions worldwide in stainless steel flat-rolled products, nickel alloys and titanium. With annual sales of €6.4 billion (US$8.3 billion), the segment employs 12,200 employees in Germany, Italy, China, Mexico and the U.S.

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