CANTON, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2007--The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR) announced today that it will invest approximately $60 million in its steel rolling mill operations to increase the company's capability to produce differentiated steel products. The investment will enable Timken to competitively produce steel bars down to 1-inch diameter for use in power transmission and friction management applications for a variety of customers, including the rapidly growing automotive transplants.
"We are making investments across our company to strengthen the differentiation of our technology and product portfolio," said James W. Griffith, Timken president and chief executive officer. "The expansion of our small-bar steel capabilities is part of our strategy of managing our company for value and taking advantage of strong market opportunities to improve our ability to create shareholder value throughout the economic cycle."
Assisting with the technical aspects of the project will be Daido Steel Co. Ltd., a leading Japanese producer that has an outstanding reputation for manufacturing special quality small-bar steel and serving demanding customers, including Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corp.
Daido and Timken also intend to explore other possible areas of collaboration in connection with the manufacture and supply of steel and steel-related products and services.
"We recognize Timken as a company with a long history of steelmaking experience and sophisticated technical performance," said Masatoshi Ozawa, president and chief executive officer of Daido Steel. "The collaboration with Timken will bring us the best solution to meet Japanese customers' expectation of success in transplant projects of special bar-quality steel in the United States. Building on this initiative, we also will be exploring other areas of possible collaboration."
The project will enable Timken to meet demanding requirements for special bar-quality steel from a wide range of customers in the bearing, industrial, energy, distribution and automotive segments, as well as Timken's automotive and industrial groups. Currently, some of this material is not readily available in the United States.
"We welcome this opportunity to work with Daido. They have an impressive reputation for manufacturing high-performance products and for providing customer service," said Salvatore J. Miraglia, Jr., president of Timken's Steel Group. "We have already made investments to expand our large-bar capabilities to an industry-leading 15-inch outer diameter. With the new small-bar project, we will be extending our capabilities down to one-inch diameter, giving us an unmatched size range of alloy steel bar products in North America."
A 76,000-square-foot addition will be built at the Harrison Steel Plant in Canton. The project will include expanded rolling, finishing and inspection capabilities. Construction is expected to begin in mid-June, with completion expected in mid-2008. Once complete, Timken expects to add approximately 30 new positions to operate the small-bar mill.
About Daido Steel Co. Ltd.
Daido Steel (TOKYO:DADSF) excels in the manufacture of specialty steel products and components for automobiles as well as industrial and electrical machinery. Founded in 1916, Daido markets a broad range of specialty steel products to companies such as Nissan Motor and Honda Motor. Headquartered in Nagoya, Japan, Daido operates an international network with locations in North America, China, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
About The Timken Company
The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR, www.timken.com) keeps the world turning, with innovative ways to make customers' products run smoother, faster and more efficiently. Timken's highly engineered bearings, alloy steels and related products and services turn up everywhere. With operations in 27 countries, sales of $5.2 billion in 2005 and 27,000 employees, Timken is Where You Turn™ for better performance.
Certain statements in this news release (including statements regarding the company's estimates and expectations) that are not historical in nature are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, statements related to the expected investment and the approximate number of new positions are forward-looking. The company cautions that actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied in forward-looking statements due to a variety of important factors, including the company's ability to achieve the expected benefits of the investment and the costs and amount of time required to achieve the expected benefits. These and additional factors are described in greater detail in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2005, page 65, and in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2006. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement.
CONTACT: The Timken Company
Media Contact:
Jeff Dafler, Manager - Global Media &
Government Relations, 330-471-3514
Facsimile: 330-471-7032
jeff.dafler@timken.com
or
Investor Contact:
Steve Tschiegg, Manager - Investor Relations,
330-471-7446
Facsimile: 330-471-2797
steve.tschiegg@timken.com
or
For Additional Information:
www.timken.com/media
www.timken.com/investors
SOURCE: The Timken Company