Timken Latrobe Steel announced it would change two pricing policies on all remelted aerospace alloy steel grades.

First, beginning with shipments on September 1, 2004, raw material surcharges will take effect at time of shipment. Second, for orders cancelled prior to melting, the cancellation charge will change from 15% to 50%. On orders already melted, the cancellation charge will remain at 100%.

In addition to the policy changes, Timken Latrobe will also increase base prices by 3 to 10% on remelted aerospace alloy steel grades. The price increase is effective with all new orders received after September 1, 2004.

Raw material surcharges will remain in effect.

"Increasing raw material costs and other key factors have made it necessary for us to implement this price increase and policy changes," said Richard H. Brown, Vice President — Business Development and Sales for Timken Latrobe Steel.

Timken Latrobe Steel, a subsidiary of The Timken Co., is a leading specialty steel producer in North America. The Timken Co. is a leading global manufacturer of highly engineered bearings and alloy steels and a provider of related products and services with operations in 27 countries. A Fortune 500 company, Timken recorded 2003 sales of $3.8 billion and employed approximately 26,000 at year-end.