New Cold Mill Start Up Underway
at Sparrows Point Division 

Bethlehem Steel Corporation
For Immediate Release

BETHLEHEM, Pa., May 2, 2000 � With the start up of Bethlehem Steel Corporation�s new continuous cold rolling mill complex at its Sparrows Point Division in Maryland, the biggest construction project in the Baltimore area has been completed. 

�We are excited about the prospects of this mill because we have the most technologically-advanced and sophisticated equipment available, highly-trained employees, the potential for new markets, and customers who are eager to get the best possible cold-rolled sheet steel products, � said Duane R. Dunham, Bethlehem�s chairman, president and chief executive officer. 

�Bethlehem has invested more than $500-million in Sparrows Point in the last two years and the cold sheet mill complex is the largest of eight projects either completed or coming on stream this year,� Mr. Dunham said.  �This major investment is part of a comprehensive plan to enhance Sparrows Point�s competitiveness and achieve and sustain a superior rate of return on the capital invested in this division."

Ground was broken for the cold sheet mill complex in April 1998 and employees have now linked the continuous pickler, which cleans the steel, with the five-stand, cold-reduction tandem mill, Mr. Dunham said.  The two units, totaling 1,025 feet of in-line machinery, were cold-tested in March, but official start-up came over the weekend when the two were linked and began operating in unison.  �We expect to see exceptional quality and yield from this high-volume facility, which can pickle 1.7 million tons per year and cold roll about 1.5 million tons per year.�

Also coming on stream is the combination skin pass mill and tension leveling line.  Other equipment at the cold sheet mill complex is being operated or tested and includes a hydrogen batch annealing facility, where the coils of steel are heated to relieve stress caused by cold rolling, and a coil rewind and inspection line, a packaging line, shipping facility and overhead cranes.

"This fully-automated cold mill complex will be tailored to fulfill the requirements of our light flat-rolled sheet steel marketing strategy and the needs of our customers,� said Carl W. Johnson, Sparrows Point Division president.  �The tandem mill features state-of-the-art mass flow, gauge and flatness control, resulting in unsurpassed product quality from end-to-end in each coil of steel.  The mill has the capability to roll sheet steel in widths from 22 to 61 inches with finished gauge thicknesses ranging between .010 to .100.�

Bethlehem has installed highly efficient emission control equipment that is more technologically sophisticated than equipment in use at the existing cold mill.  The new emission control equipment meets the latest and most stringent regulations.

As the new complex is phased in, the two existing cold reducing mills and related facilities will gradually decrease production and be shut down.  The new mill is expected to be at full production by the end of 2000.  

The major contractors for the new complex were VAI, a subsidiary of VA Technologie AG, Linz, Austria, and Fluor Daniel, Inc., Greenville, S.C., a subsidiary of Fluor Corp.  VAI supplied the major equipment for the mill and lines, while Fluor Daniel was responsible for the engineering and procurement for the facility and its construction.

The decision to locate the new production facility at Sparrows Point came after months of consideration of alternative sites in other states.  Factors in the decision included the ability of Sparrows Point to earn a superior return of the total amount of capital invested at the division. The overall performance of the division is expected to improve from the cumulative benefits to the entire division from recent investments.    These initiatives included significant participation by the United Steelworkers of America.  Also helping to bring the complex to Sparrows Point were government officials, suppliers and citizens from local communities. 

The new cold mill complex will be supplied with hot-rolled steel from Sparrows Point's modern hot strip mill.  Cold-rolled products from Sparrows Point are used in containers, tubing, machinery, storage tanks, automotive parts, metal furniture, electrical lighting equipment and hardware, and also sold by service centers.  Cold-rolled steel is also further processed at the division's coating lines to produce galvanized or Galvalume (TM) sheet products for the commercial and residential construction, heating ventilation and air conditioning, automotive and appliance industries. 

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