Harsco Division Lands 10-Year Contract

Harsco Corp. announced that its Heckett MultiServ division, a provider of on-site, outsourced services to steel mills and other metals producers, has been awarded a new 10-year contract to briquette and recycle steel production by-products at Australia's largest steelmaker, BHP Steel's Port Kembla works.

The contract is expected to generate revenues in excess of $75 million over its duration, and adds to the company’s services to the Port Kembla works, where Heckett MultiServ operates through its joint venture company MetServ.

The new contract follows an extensive joint development program undertaken in collaboration with BHP Steel to optimize a briquetting, dewatering, filtration and drying system that enables the mill's waste oxide materials to be processed and recycled on-site into the making of new steel.

Start-up is expected in mid-2004. The facility will be capable of producing up to 200,000 tons of briquettes per year.

The award builds on Heckett MultiServ's success in developing and operating similar briquetting facilities at mills in Canada, France, the U.K. and Slovakia. The company sees further opportunities worldwide with both new and additional existing customers who are seeking economical ways to recycle their steelmaking wastes for productive re-use.

Briquetting is one of several market-leading technologies being advanced by Heckett MultiServ to address the industry's increasing concerns for environmentally responsive and cost-effective alternatives to on-site landfills and disposal fees, and to enable steelmakers to better control their raw material costs through the on-site recycling of production by-products.