Improvements were made in Outokumpu's Corporate...

PRESS RELEASE
March 12, 2009 at 14.00 pm


In Outokumpu Group, 2008 was a "Corporate Responsibility Theme Year".
The aim was to highlight the importance of environmental and social
responsibility. Plants and offices were given measurable targets to
reduce energy consumption, landfill waste and the number of
accidents. Improving well-being at work was another target. Since
responsibility concerns all, the aim was to involve every Outokumpu
employee.

"It is a joy to see that our performance improved in all the theme
year target areas. However, when we look at the results at
group-level, not all of the challenging theme year targets were fully
met. Therefore, we will continue our improvement actions," CEO Juha
Rantanen points out and continues, "Like others, Outokumpu has been
forced into making some tough decisions because of the global
economic recession. In times like these, it is even more important to
operate in a responsible way and try to maintain a balance between
the different areas of corporate responsibility - economic,
environmental and social. Always without forgetting safety and
well-being in the workplace."

The well being of the personnel did, in fact, improve slightly from
the previous year. The response rate to the employee survey is a sign
of that, increasing by 11.5 percentage units, as well as the work
satisfaction index, which increased by 4.3 percent from last year.

Energy consumption in the manufacturing units decreased by 0.3
percent per ton processed. This is a good result, considering that
the overall production volume fell in 2008. The target was a two
percent reduction in energy consumption. On the other hand, the
quantity of waste taken to landfill sites fell by a remarkable 40
percent per ton processed - the target was 10 percent. This excellent
result was mainly due to the success of several years' efforts to
commercialize by-products. Accident frequency fell from 11 accidents
to nine accidents per one million working hours. This was slightly
short of the targeted eight accidents per million working hours.

Despite improvement actions, not all units succeeded in achieving
their targets. Pleasing examples of employee commitment were found in
various parts of the group. New Castle, in the US, underwent a real
cultural transformation. Recycling was introduced within the site.
Even the personnel of the contractor involved in the plant expansion
works took part. The absolute quantity of landfill waste fell by six
percent. The facility sells the recycled material, and part of the
profit is donated to a local food-aid charity. Energy consumption at
the corporate headquarters in Espoo, Finland, fell by six percent per
employee, in other words more than the targeted five percent. The
reduction of landfill waste per person fell only slightly short of
the five percent target.

With a view to reducing global carbon dioxide emissions, Outokumpu
favors tele and video conferencing over flying. The use of these
increased by approximately 75 percent. However, air travel increased
by 37 percent, as well. This was due to the new organizational model
emphasizing co-operation between business units. In line with our
targets, all new company cars purchased in 2008 were low emission
cars producing less than 200 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.

In Avesta, for example, average annual emissions were 168 grams of
CO2 per kilometer, when the previous year's figure had been 182 grams
of CO2 per kilometer. At the beginning of the theme year, Outokumpu
pledged to invest five million euros towards an environmental
initiative which aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and landfill
waste. The winning initiative will be selected based on an internal
competition. The competition received many excellent and innovative
suggestions, seven of which were selected to provide more detailed
information. The winning initiative will be published at the end of
April 2009.

The improvement actions, big and small, launched in the theme year,
will continue in 2009 - albeit in a more challenging economic
climate.

For further information please contact:

Liisa Jalanko, Vice President - Corporate Responsibility,
tel: [phone], mobile: [phone]





Outokumpu is a global leader in stainless steel. Our vision is to be
the undisputed number one in stainless, with success based on
operational excellence. Customers in a wide range of industries use
our stainless steel and services worldwide. Being fully recyclable,
maintenance-free, as well as very strong and durable material,
stainless steel is one of the key building blocks for sustainable
future.

Outokumpu operates in some 30 countries and employs more than 8 000
people. The Group's head office is located in Espoo, Finland.
Outokumpu has been listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki since 1988.


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