Harsco Corporation announced that its industry leading MultiServ mill services division has signed one of its largest contracts yet in China, a 12 year agreement valued at more than USD 50 million over its term to support one of China's newest and largest steel operations, Ningbo Iron & Steel.

MultiServ has been selected to operate and manage Ningbo's scrap yard, handling the receipt and stocking of scrap material, accurately loading materials to the mill's prescribed menus, and transporting the material on a real-time basis to the mill's steelmaking furnace. MultiServ's operations will include a computerized scrap management system capable of expansion in line with the mill's expected production increases.

Mr Salvatore D Fazzolari president & CFO of Harsco said that the new contract is a further reflection of Harsco's continuing strategic execution As underscored by this award, Harsco's global growth strategies include steady, targeted expansion in the Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa sectors to further complement our already strong presence throughout Europe and North America.

The Ningbo works is a major, all new integrated steel plant now being launched in Zhejiang Province, as that region seeks to establish itself as a new iron and steel industrial base along the southeastern coastline of China, near Shanghai. The mill has recently begun blast furnace operations with an initial annual production capacity in the range of two million tons, and is expected to ramp up to full capacity of approximately six million tons within the next three years, making it one of the top 20 largest steel mills in China. The plant is a four-way joint venture of three Chinese steel producers and a Chinese investment firm. The majority shareholder is the nearby HangZhou Iron and Steel Works, MultiServ's largest customer in China.