Grupo Imsa SA de CV has signed a 10-year off-take agreement for slab with Corus Group, U.K., through its facility located in Teesside, England. Gruppo Marcegaglia, Italy, and Duferco International, Italy/Switzerland, are also participating in the agreement. In addition, Dongkuk Steel, Korea, has the right to join the consortium before January 5, 2005.

For the 10-year duration of the contract, Grupo Imsa, through Imsa Acero, will have access to 16% of the Teesside plant production capacity, estimated to be between 3.2 and 3.6 million tonnes of slab per year. This will represent approximately 20% of Imsa Acero's current and future slab needs.

Slab will be purchased at cost. In addition, as part of the agreement, Grupo Imsa will pay an estimated US$53 million dollars over the 10-year period of the contract. If Dongkuk Steel elects to joins the consortium, Grupo Imsa’s share of the payment will shift to approximately US$46 million dollars, based on the redistribution of steel slab capacity among participating companies.

Santiago Clariond, Imsa Acero's CEO, said, "This transaction is in line with our strategy of assuring an important part of our steel needs in order to serve our customers better and improve control over our inputs. It also opens the door to exploring opportunities to expand the production capacity at our hot-rolling mill."

Grupo Imsa, a holding company, dates back to 1936 and is today one of Mexico's leading diversified industrial companies, operating in three core businesses: steel processed products; steel and plastic construction products; and aluminum and other related products. With manufacturing and distribution facilities in Mexico, the United States, Europe and throughout Central and South America, Grupo Imsa currently exports to all five continents.