Straightline Offers New E-Enabled Steel Distribution Service In Minnesota, Iowa and Western Wisconsin

Straightline Source, a division of United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X), America's largest integrated steelmaker, expanded its electronic procurement and online steel distribution service to customers in Minnesota, Iowa and western Wisconsin, offering instant price quotations, highly competitive prices and on-time delivery for a wide range of carbon flat-rolled steel products.

"Straightline selected Minnesota, Iowa and western Wisconsin as its newest service district due to the area's diverse industrial base," said Bob Dryburgh, president of Straightline. "With this newest district, we've expanded our market presence almost six fold in the past three months and extended our customer reach to a broader spectrum of the U.S. manufacturing base."

To further support the needs of customers throughout the district, Straightline has retained an experienced team of steel industry experts led by Phil Olson and Tim LaPerre. These steel industry veterans and their team have spent their entire careers serving customers in the Minnesota, Iowa and western Wisconsin area. They bring a deep understanding of the regional marketplace and the needs of its customers.

Launched last October, Straightline's growing online steel distribution business is currently available to manufacturers from northern Florida up through the Great Lakes region.

Additional rollouts are being scheduled throughout the year to highly concentrated areas of steel customers across the United States.

The Straightline Solution

Straightline manages the entire customer relationship and in doing so takes responsibility for all aspects of the transaction, including order placement, steel sourcing, inventory management, delivery, customer service and claims.

Straightline offers direct access for planning and purchasing processed steel products to manufacturers of all sizes that typically do not buy directly from steel producers. Customers can receive instant price quotations and place orders for a variety of carbon flat-roll steel, 24 hours a day, seven days a week at http://www.straightline.com/, or by phone with the assistance of knowledgeable customer account managers.

Straightline currently specializes in the sale and distribution of carbon flat-roll steel, including hot rolled, cold rolled and coated products in slit coil, stock sheets and custom cut-to-length sheets. Customers can order custom processed products or select from a catalog of finished goods. Plans to expand product offerings and processing options are coming soon including the introduction of strip mill plate and blanking. Products can be purchased on a spot or contract basis. Since launching in October, Straightline has experienced gradual growth in its contract relationships and associated services to complement its rapidly growing spot business.

Straightline's Customer Advantage

Straightline is able to reduce a customer's total cost of material acquisition by maximizing efficiencies associated with inventory management, material utilization, logistics, planning and order processing. This increased efficiency means consistently lower costs for consumers.

With Straightline, buyers are in control of all steel buying processes, from pricing through delivery. Buyers can choose from pricing options based on a selection of delivery dates and a variety of quantities. Straightline also offers just-in-time delivery, allowing customers to receive product when they need it according to their warehouse schedule. In addition, buyers can track purchases and easily check on the delivery status of orders anytime of the day or night at http://www.straightline.com/ or by calling Straightline's 24-hour Customer Care Department.

Furthermore, Straightline offers a simple, intuitive and easy-to-use Web interface, with no complicated technology to learn. The entire steel buying process can be completed online in minutes, not hours or days.

Serving Minnesota, Iowa, Western Wisconsin

Straightline has assembled a network of local processing partners to hold inventory, perform custom processing and deliver finished goods. Processing partners are selected based on rigorous criteria, including ISO certification.

By partnering with Straightline, processors benefit by increasing utilization of their equipment and facilities without the added costs of sales, marketing or inventory, thus improving their overall profitability.

In conjunction with the regional expansion of its customer base, Straightline is expanding its processor network throughout the United States and enhancing its customer offerings within service areas.

Straightline Registration

Steel buyers who want to join Straightline can register quickly and conveniently at http://www.straightline.com/ or by calling Straightline Customer Care toll-free at 1-866-252-0488. There are no registration fees. An instantaneous credit verification is completed online in seconds and buyers are free to make purchases upon approval.

Straightline Source is a division of United States Steel Corporation and specializes in an online distribution business for carbon flat-roll steel to customers of all sizes that do not typically buy steel goods directly from steel producers. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Straightline has a growing staff of 100 employees. Visit Straightline at http://www.straightline.com/.

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SOURCE: Straightline Source

Contact: Maggie Bray, Magnet Communications, +1-412-456-4308, or
mbray@magnetcom.com, for Straightline Source

Website: http://www.ussteel.com/

Website: http://www.straightline.com/

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