Novamerican Steel Discusses Forming a Joint Venture With Bethlehem Steel

23 November 1999

Novamerican Steel Announces Discussions to Form a Joint Venture With Bethlehem Steel

    MONTREAL--Nov. 22, 1999--Novamerican Steel Inc. today announced that it is in discussions to form a joint venture with Bethlehem Steel Corporation to produce steel tubes for use in hydroforming automobile and truck parts. The formation of this venture, to be called BethNova Tube, is subject to final documentation and approval by the Boards of Directors of the partners.
    Hydroforming is a relatively new process which is gaining wide acceptance among automotive manufacturers in the United States as a way to improve the manufacturing process by reducing costs and weights of new cars and trucks.
    The joint venture will build a new, state-of-the-art tube manufacturing facility at a site yet to be determined. The bulk of tube production at the new facility is to be dedicated to Dana Corporation, a major automotive parts supplier, which is in the process of building a new hydroforming plant near Elizabethtown, KY.
    D. Bryan Jones, chief executive officer of Novamerican, said: "In recent years we have invested in machinery specifically designed to manufacture tubing for the hydroforming process. We are very pleased to be combining our efforts with Bethlehem Steel to enhance the development of this process and to further the goal to become, through this partnership, North American's leading supplier of tubing to the automotive industry."
    The hydroforming process utilizes a pressurized fluid medium within a die to form parts from steel tubes. The result is improved dimensional accuracy, which facilitates assembly line automation, reduces costs and lowers vehicle weight. Some current uses of hydroformed steel are in frames, side rails and engine cradles.
    Novamerican Steel, headquartered in Montreal, Canada, owns tubemaking facilities and service centers throughout eastern Canada and the northeast United States, and has built and currently operates one of North America's first tube mills targeted specifically for high-pressure hydroformed tubes.
    Some of the material set forth in this press release may be considered to be forward-looking statements and as such are subject to risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, product demand, competition, regulatory approvals, the effect of economic conditions and technological difficulties and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.