Ferrous Solutions Welcomes Stephen E. Farley as Vice President

CANTON, Ohio (October 2, 2000) - Ferrous Solutions, Inc. a leading provider of custom-blended scrap materials (SmartScrap^TM) and software solutions (the AlchemistTM Scrap Management System) for the steel industry, is pleased to announce that Stephen E. Farley has joined the company as Vice President.

"We're delighted to have someone of Steve's caliber join our management team," said J. Edward Norris, President of Ferrous Solutions. "His vast experience in raw material management, coupled with his expertise in linear optimization and statistical modeling, will strengthen our ability to expand the use of SmartScrapTM"

Farley joins Ferrous Solutions, Inc. from the Timken Company, where he began his career in 1973. Since 1985, he has been actively involved in scrap management, most recently, holding the position of Principle Raw Materials Analyst.

Steve is a member of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries and the Iron & Steel Society. He resides with his wife Jan, and four sons, in Canton, Ohio.

Ferrous Solutions, Inc. was formed in 1996 to supply customers with custom-blended scrap materials. The company utilizes computer modeling, sampling and quality control techniques, coupled with the expertise of its employees within the scrap industry, to blend scrap mixes to customers' precise specifications. The custom-blended scrap mixes provide customers with a superior mix of raw materials at a lower cost than more traditional prompt grades of scrap available through scrap yards or brokers. Ferrous Solutions unique capabilities create value-added material blends that have been successfully proven to lower their customers' raw material costs.