Firth Rixson Signs Two Deals for China Ventures

Sheffield, UK—July 26, 2004 —Firth Rixson Limited, a provider of highly engineered forged, cast and other specialty metal products and a holding of The Carlyle Group, announces today it has signed an agreement to begin construction of a 50,000/sf facility to be built near Shanghai, China.  The plant, which will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Firth Rixson Limited, will forge and process seamless alloy rings for aerospace applications.

According to Armand F. Lauzon, Jr., CEO of Firth Rixson, this new facility is the first of two projects the newly formed Firth Rixson China Ltd. is undertaking in China.  “The first venture, our wholly owned manufacturing facility, will focus on supplying aerospace customers.  Our second joint venture is an agreement with a Chinese manufacturing company.  This venture calls for the two parties to operate a heat-treatment and machining facility, near Guiyang, China.  This new facility will be designed to meet the most modern aerospace quality requirements and service product up to – and exceeding – current market demand for large sizes.”

Lauzon says that under the terms of the Memo of Understanding, Firth Rixson will supply back-extruded pre-forms that will be processed on the Chinese manufacturer’s seamless-ring mill.  “We will also provide technical consulting

and systems to support heat treatment and finish machining of the rings our joint venture partner produces,” says Lauzon.