HSC Harsco Corporation

In the largest and most impressive ceremony in Company history, the groundbreaking for Harsco Corporation's (NYSE:HSC) new joint venture slag utilization project with leading Chinese steelmaker TISCO was celebrated this week in Shanxi Province, China. The ceremony, attended by more than 1,000 guests and covered extensively by Chinese media, featured presentations from senior Chinese government officials and U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke.

(L to R) Harsco Chairman, President and CEO Salvatore Fazzolari; U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke; and Shanxi Province Governor Wang, Jun Groundbreaking for Harsco Corporation's new joint venture slag utilization project with leading Chinese steelmaker TISCO

Photos accompanying this release are available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=11045 and http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=11046 "Today we are here to symbolically plant the seed from which will grow a great partnership," said Harsco Chairman, President and CEO Salvatore Fazzolari. "Our two great companies are joining to build a strong alliance that not only protects the environment but also advances technology and global best practices. This will be the largest and most significant program of its type anywhere in the world."

Under its previously-announced 25-year environmental solutions contract, the largest contract in Company history, Harsco will apply its proprietary separation technologies to extract high-value metallic content from TISCO's steelmaking slag for production re-use. In parallel, Harsco will also develop commercial market opportunities throughout China for utilizing slag co-products to revitalize potentially thousands of acres of prime agricultural croplands and contribute to a broad range of industrial applications. 

In his remarks, Ambassador Locke praised Harsco and TISCO for working together to address business interests in combination with a healthier and more sustainable environment. "This type of cooperation between companies from the U.S. and China is proof that environmental stewardship is a job-creating enterprise, one that will reap benefits in both of our countries." Shanxi Province Governor Wang, Jun added that the project is the province's largest involving an American company with a focus on building a "green Shanxi."

As previously announced, the Harsco-TISCO partnership has the potential to generate new revenues of an estimated $30 million in its first full year of operation (2013), ramping up to a projected run rate of approximately $50 million to $60 million per year when fully operational (2015). Harsco anticipates that the metal recovery operations will begin in late 2012, and market development for the agricultural fertilizer and other commercial by-products will proceed in parallel, with an estimated start date of 2014. When fully operational, the project is expected to utilize 100 percent of the steel slag generated by TISCO and have zero discharge, thereby eliminating the need for the material's industrial landfill. 

"It has always been the goal of TISCO to develop itself into a truly green and model steel mill," remarked TISCO Chairman Li Xiaobo. "The close cooperation between TISCO and Harsco is a most important step towards this goal. Harsco's advanced technology and expertise gives much needed and valuable support to the success of the project." 

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the company's strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures and financial results are forward-looking statements. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "may," "could," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "projects," "indicates," and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Harsco, particularly its latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q, as well as others, could cause results to differ materially from those stated. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in the worldwide business environment in which the Company operates, including general economic conditions; changes in currency exchange rates, interest rates, commodity and fuel costs and capital costs; changes in the performance of the equity and debt markets that could affect, among other things, the valuation of the assets in the Company's pension plans and the accounting for pension assets, liabilities and expenses; changes in governmental laws and regulations, including environmental, tax and import tariff standards; market and competitive changes, including pricing pressures, market demand and acceptance for new products, services, and technologies; unforeseen business disruptions in one or more of the many countries in which the Company operates due to political instability, civil disobedience, armed hostilities, public health issues or other calamities; the seasonal nature of the Company's business; our ability to successfully enter into new contracts and complete new acquisitions or joint ventures in the timeframe contemplated or at all; the recent global financial and credit crisis, which could result in our customers curtailing development projects, construction, production and capital expenditures, which, in turn, could reduce the demand for our products and services and, accordingly, our sales, margins and profitability; the financial condition of the Company's customers, including the ability of customers (especially those that may be highly leveraged and those with inadequate liquidity) to maintain their credit availability; risk and uncertainty associated with intangible assets; the successful integration of the Company's strategic acquisitions; the amount and timing of repurchases of the Company's common stock, if any; our ability to successfully implement cost-reduction initiatives, including the achievement of expected cost savings in the expected timeframe; and other risk factors listed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports. The Company undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements.

About TISCO

With annual steel production of close to 10 million tons, including stainless steel production of 2.75 million tons, China's Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Group) Co., Ltd. (TISCO) ranks as one of the world's largest steel producers and the number one global producer of stainless steel. To learn more, go to www.tisco.com.

About Harsco

Harsco Corporation is a diversified global solutions company serving major industries that are fundamental to worldwide infrastructure development and economic growth. Harsco's common stock is a component of the S&P MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 1000 Index. Additional information can be found at www.harsco.com.

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CONTACT: Investor Contact
         Eugene M. Truett
         717.975.5677
         etruett@harsco.com
         
         Media Contact
         Kenneth D. Julian
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         kjulian@harsco.com