Universal Stainless to Add Vacuum Arc Remelt Furnace at Bridgeville Facility
May 6, 2005
Universal Stainless to Add Vacuum Arc Remelt Furnace at Bridgeville Facility
Universal Stainless to Add Vacuum Arc Remelt Furnace at Bridgeville Facility
Added VAR Capacity Will Address Accelerating Customer Demand for Aerospace Grade Steels
BRIDGEVILLE, Pa., May 6, 2005 -- Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, Inc. (Nasdaq:USAP) today announced that its Board of Directors has approved the purchase of a sixth vacuum arc remelt (VAR) furnace, which will be installed at its Bridgeville facility. It is expected to be operational in October.Vacuum arc remelting is a value-added process required to produce high quality grades of steel primarily for aerospace applications. The Company currently has five VAR furnaces located at its Titusville, PA facility.
The project, including equipment purchase and installation, is estimated to cost between $2.0 and $2.5 million and will be financed initially through the Company's existing credit facility.
Mac McAninch, President and CEO, commented: "Our decision to invest in additional VAR capacity is in response both to immediate need and to expected demand based on customer and industry forecasts for the next three to five years. We project payback for this investment to be less than one year."
Mr. McAninch concluded: "Our backlog to melt VAR products increased by more than 10% in the month of April, despite running our current furnaces 24-7. With the aerospace industry in its initial phase of recovery, it is important that Universal Stainless respond to the growing needs of our customers."
About Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, Inc.
Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, Inc., headquartered in Bridgeville, Pa., manufactures and markets a broad line of semi-finished and finished specialty steels, including stainless steel, tool steel and certain other alloyed steels. The Company's products are sold to original equipment manufacturers, service centers, forgers, rerollers and wire redrawers.
Forward-Looking Information Safe Harbor
Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. Those risks include, among others, risks associated with the receipt, pricing and timing of future customer orders, risks associated with significant fluctuations that may occur in raw material and energy prices, risks associated with the manufacturing process and production yields, risks related to property, plant and equipment and risks related to the ultimate outcome of the Company's current and future litigation and regulatory matters. Certain of these risks and other risks are described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the last 12 months, copies of which are available from the SEC or may be obtained upon request from the Company.
CONTACT: Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, Inc. Richard M. Ubinger, Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer (412) 257-7606 Comm-Partners LLC June Filingeri (203) 972-0186