Welcome to Bethlehem Steel. We are excited that you're interested in becoming one of our valued suppliers. In order to understand how you can serve us, we feel that it is important for you to understand our company's vision and how our sourcing effort operates.

Our vision is to Be the Premier Steel Company. This focus is based on objectives and a strategy with fundamental core values that include integrity, safety, personal accountability, continuous learning, total quality, customer satisfaction and the maximizing of stockholder value. These objectives and values extend to our supply network.

Bethlehem Steel's sourcing effort is organized to solicit and implement the best cost-reduction opportunities throughout our company. This approach allows us to take a fresh look at the opportunities available. We do not limit the way we do things, nor do we do them because it is "the way they were always done." There are no limitations - we are simply looking for the best suppliers to help us attain our goal of being the Premier Steel Company.

Our sourcing process works within a center-led organization. Our sourcing professionals work as leaders and members of sourcing teams which are comprised of a multidisciplinary group of employees. With backgrounds in fields such as operations, engineering, finance, research and purchasing, we can work together to arrive at the best procurement decisions.

Currently, our purchasing department is conducting business with companies from 36 countries throughout the world. Globalization allows Bethlehem Steel to achieve the greatest benefit for its customers while developing new opportunities for suppliers throughout the world.

Bethlehem's Purchasing and Transportation Department has been nationally recognized by Purchasing magazine.

We are extremely interested in your ideas to add value and reduce total costs relating to the products or services you can supply - as well as in developing a mutually beneficial relationship. In fact, we reward this dedication to Bethlehem Steel each and every year. This prestigious supplier recognition is in the form of our Premier Supplier of the Year Award - the "Signature in Steel."

Bethlehem Steel hopes that you not only pursue becoming a supplier for us but also strive to become a partner. We reserve the term "partnership" for those special relationships continually characterized by:

• Joint commitment to information exchange, planning, continuous improvement and cost reduction
• Agreed-upon measures of key performance factors
• Sharing of risk to achieve mutual benefits
• The supplier maintaining a leadership position in technology, service and cost, and Bethlehem maintaining a receptive attitude to the supplier's ideas
• Appropriate consideration for the amount of business we direct to that supplier.