AK Steel To Acquire Alpha Tube

Middletown, OH, June 26, 2001 — AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that it had entered into a contract to acquire Alpha Tube Corporation, a leading manufacturer of welded steel tubing located in Walbridge, Ohio. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Acme Metals Incorporated, Riverdale, Illinois.

Acme and its principal subsidiaries, including Alpha Tube, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 28, 1998, however Alpha Tube has continued to manufacture and market its products since the filing. AK Steel was the successful bidder for Alpha Tube through an auction conducted in federal bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware. AK Steel said the purchase price was $30 million in cash in addition to the assumption of a building lease. AK Steel expects to close the acquisition in the third quarter of 2001.

Alpha Tube produces value-added large diameter, thin wall mechanical tubing for automotive, construction, heating and cooling, furniture and other markets. The company operates tube mills, slitters and a variety of finishing equipment and produces a wide range of specialty and coated steel tubing products. The company employs about 250 in its facility near Toledo.

"The acquisition of Alpha Tube further solidifies AK Steel's strategy of increasing its offering of value-added steel products to the marketplace," said Richard M. Wardrop, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of AK Steel.

With headquarters in Middletown, Ohio, 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. The company has about 11,200 employees in steel plants and offices in Middletown, Coshocton, Mansfield, Warren and Zanesville, Ohio; Ashland, Ky.; Rockport, Ind.; and Butler, Sharon and Wheatland, Pa.