In addition, entities that the Company believes create synergistic relationships or other opportunities are potential candidates. The Company will seek to maximize and accelerate its utilization of net operating loss carryforwards to offset taxable earnings achieved through efficiency improvements, cost savings, and acquisitions. As of September 30, 2001, the Company had approximately $133 million of net operating loss carryforwards which could be used to offset taxable earnings, including the earnings of acquired entities. Competition The Company competes in the market for light structural and merchant bar steel products and does not currently compete with minimill flat rolled producers or most domestic integrated steel producers. Structural Shapes. The Louisiana Facility’s location on the Mississippi River, as well as the stocking locations in three additional regions of the country, provide access to large markets in the Eastern, Midwestern, Southern, and Central portions of the United States. As a result, the Company competes in the light structural shape market with several major domestic minimills in each of these regions. Depending on the region and product, the Company primarily competes with Nucor Corporation, Structural Metals, Inc., North Star Steel Co., Lake Ontario Steel Corporation, Birmingham Steel Corporation, and Ameristeel Corporation, among others. Certain of these competitors have significantly greater financial resources than the Company. Merchant Bar Shapes. The Tennessee Facility’s location accessible to the Mississippi River waterway system, as well as the Company’s stocking locations in three additional regions of the country, provide access to large markets in the Appalachian states, and the Eastern, Midwestern, upper Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Central portions of the United States. Merchant bar competitors in the region are Ameristeel Corporation, Structural Metals, Inc., Nucor Corporation, Birmingham Steel Corporation, Roanoke Electric, North Star Steel Co., and Marion Steel. Rebar. The Tennessee Facility may produce rebar in varying quantities depending on economic and market trends. The Tennessee Facility’s main competitor would be Ameristeel Corporation in Knoxville, Tennessee. Ameristeel Corporation, however, fabricates a large portion of its rebar in competition with independent fabricators who would be the target customers of the Tennessee Facility. Independent fabricators opting not to buy from a competitor may create a significant niche. Other competitors include SMI/Cayce Steel, Birmingham Steel Corporation, Nucor Corporation, and Co-Steel. Foreign steel producers historically have not competed significantly with the Company in the domestic market for merchant bar and light structural shape sales due to higher freight costs relative to end product prices. However, in fiscal 2001, 2000, and 1999, the Company experienced significant competition from foreign producers adversely impacting both price and shipment volumes. Continued market pressures created by the oversupply due to imports for a sustained period of time may have an adverse impact on the Company’s financial position. Raw Materials The Company’s major raw material is steel scrap, which is generated principally from industrial, automotive, demolition, railroad, and other scrap sources and is primarily purchased directly in the open market through a large number of steel scrap dealers. The Company is able to efficiently transport steel scrap from suppliers throughout the inland waterway system and through the Gulf of Mexico, permitting it to take advantage of steel scrap purchasing opportunities far from its minimill, and to protect itself from supply imbalances that develop from time to time in specific local markets. In addition, unlike many other minimills, the Company, through its own scrap purchasing staff, buys scrap primarily from scrap dealers and contractors rather than through brokers. The Company believes that its enhanced knowledge of scrap market conditions gained by being directly involved in scrap procurement on a daily basis, coupled with management’s extensive experience in metals recycling markets, gives the Company a competitive advantage. The Company does not currently depend upon any single supplier for its scrap. No single vendor supplies more than 10% of the Company’s scrap needs. The Company, on average, maintains a 15 to 20-day inventory of steel scrap. 5 |