FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Skyrocketing Demand for CuproBraze: One Million in Service by 2007

Detroit, Michigan (April 13, 2005) — The CuproBraze Alliance forecasts one million brazed copper-brass heat exchangers in service by 2007. Staffan Anger, president of Outokumpu Copper Strip Oy, briefed the press on behalf of the CuproBraze Alliance, Wednesday morning at the SAE 2005 World Congress (the annual meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers held at the COBO Center in Detroit).

Anger estimated recent production of CuproBraze heat exchangers worldwide, indicating production milestones. Also, he forecast continued rapid growth of CuproBraze production in the next few years. “My message is simple,” said Anger. “The CuproBraze Alliance expects to have one million CuproBraze heat exchangers in service by 2007. The growth in CuproBraze production in the past three years has been spectacular.”

Worldwide Growth
Cu proBraze technology was conceived in the 1990s as a means of competing with aluminum brazing for a wide range of mobile heat-exchanger applications. A milestone was reached in February 2003 when SHAAZ opened a high-volume production facility in Shadrinsk, Russia. That year, the number of CuproBraze heat exchangers in service tripled compared to all of the previous years combined. In November 2004, the Nanning Baling Technology (NBT) company opened a new plant in Nanning, China, using the latest technologies from CuproBraze Alliance members. Both SHAAZ and NBT are members of the CuproBraze Alliance.

According to Anger, SHAAZ radiators and charge air coolers are now being installed in many well-known truck brands in Russia, including URAL, KAMAZ and IVECO. “The CuproBraze Alliance has proven that it can ramp up manufacturing capacity to any level required, including high-volume production for OEM manufacturers,” said Anger. “With the radiators and charge air coolers being produced by these new facilities as well as others around the globe, it is estimated that 200,000 CuproBraze heat exchangers were in service at the close of 2004 and 500,000 will be in service by the close of 2005.”

There are nine companies in production and thirteen more decisions to start production around the globe. “With about 80 more companies currently evaluating the technology, these numbers are skyrocketing,” said Anger. “As a result, the CuproBraze Alliance predicts more than a million in service by the close of 2006.”

The CuproBraze Alliance includes the following heat-exchanger manufacturers:

JSC Shaaz — Shadrinsk Auto Aggregate Plant
Najico — Nakamura Jico Co., Ltd.
Nanning Baling Technology Company
Radicon Co., Ltd.
SJT — Suomen Jäähdytintehdas Oy
HW Labs
Dae Heung

Additionally, the Alliance consists of the following equipment makers and materials suppliers:

BrazeTec GmbH;
Hydro Ellay Enfield Limited
International Copper Association, Ltd.
Lucas-Milhaupt, Inc.
Mill Masters, Inc Outokumpu Copper Strip AB
Outokumpu Livernois Engineering
Schöler Spezialmaschinenbau GmbH
SECO/WARWICK Corporation
Tianjin Tool Research Institute
Tokyo Braze Co Ltd
Vacuumschmelze GmbH & Co.
Yamazaki Kinzoku Sangyo Co Ltd
Kangjie Machinery Manufacture

Representatives from many of these companies are exhibiting with the Copper Development Association and the International Copper Association at SAE 2005. For more information about the CuproBraze Alliance, visit www.cuprobraze.com.

For technical information, contact the International Copper Association, (212) 251-7245 or write to ICA at 260 Madison Avenue, 16 th Floor, New York, NY 10016-2401.

The International Copper Association, Ltd. is the leading organization for the promotion of the use of copper worldwide. The Association’s twenty-nine members represent about 80 percent of the world’s refined copper output, and its six associate members are among the world’s largest copper and copper-alloy fabricators. ICA is responsible for guiding policy, strategy and funding of international initiatives and promotional activities. With headquarters in New York City, ICA operates in 28 worldwide locations through a network of regional offices and copper development associations.

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