Heidtman Steel to Close Crawfordsville, Indiana Plant in Move to Reallocate Processing Capabilities

Toledo, Ohio, April 25, 2008 - Heidtman Steel, the largest privately owned flat-rolled steel service center is the USA, has announced that they will be closing their Crawfordsville, Indiana processing facility. Currently, there are 71 people employed at this location. "This closing is part of an on-going strategic asset evaluation process to right-size the company and improve productivity," said Tim Berra, President of Heidtman Steel. "We are continually monitoring our asset distribution in light of economic and market conditions to remain competitive and better match our geographic processing to our customer's needs."

"We fully understand the significant impact of this decision on our Crawfordsville employees and will work constructively in the weeks ahead to help alleviate this impact as much as possible. Company officials will be providing job transition support to help the affected employees find new employment," said Mr. Berra. "All existing sales will be managed from one of Heidtman Steel’s other Midwest facilities. The impact to our steel sales customers will be completely transparent."

The Crawfordsville operation was opened in 1994 and is currently a 230,000 sq. ft. facility, located on 134 acres, housing pickling, slitting and leveling operations. Heidtman Steel expects the facility to be closed by mid-summer.

About Heidtman Steel
Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Heidtman is a world leader in marketing flat-rolled carbon steel products and processes through 16 direct and joint venture state-of-the-art facilities. Noted for their expertise in high strength steel, Heidtman processes nearly five million tons of steel annually. It products are distributed to industries including automotive, truck and bus, construction, pipe and tube, metal building, appliances and furniture. For more information on Heidtman Steel, log on to www.heidtman.com.