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AK Steel To Permanently Close Dover, Ohio Plant

7 December 1999

AK Steel To Permanently Close Dover, Ohio Plant

    MIDDLETOWN, Ohio, Dec. 6 -- AK Steel said today
that it will permanently close its Dover, Ohio plant on January 29, 2000.  The
plant currently employs about 120 hourly and salaried employees, of whom
approximately 35 are currently on layoff status.
    AK Steel took over operation of the plant September 30, 1999 with the
acquisition of Armco Inc.  The plant includes a carbon steel galvanizing line
that produces commodity-grade steel primarily for construction and
distribution markets.  Prior to the merger, Armco made attempts to sell the
facility without success.
    "Unfortunately, the Dover operation did not fit into the AK Steel product
line, and the plant has been hampered by years of financial losses," said
Richard M. Wardrop, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of AK Steel.
    AK Steel said the cost of incoming raw materials, primarily the cold-
rolled substrate used for coating, precluded the operation from being
profitable.  The company said it would record a special charge of
approximately $35 million, on a pre-tax basis, in the fourth quarter of 1999
as a result of the shutdown.  The shutdown charges include employee severance
costs and asset writedowns, and was contemplated within the estimated $150
million to $175 million of one-time charges the company previously said it
might incur as a result of its merger with Armco.
    AK Steel produces flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel
products for automotive, appliance, construction and manufacturing markets, as
well as standard pipe and tubular steel products.  AK Steel is headquartered
in Middletown, Ohio.  It employs about 11,500 men and women in plants and
offices in Middletown, Coshocton, Mansfield, Warren and Zanesville, Ohio;
Ashland, Kentucky; Rockport, Indiana; and Butler, Sharon and Wheatland,
Pennsylvania.  AK Steel also produces snow and ice control products, and
operates a major industrial park on the Houston, Texas ship channel.
Additional information about AK Steel is available on the company's web site
at http://www.aksteel.com .