Dear Customer, Colleague or Friend,

All of us in the VESUVIUS - FOSECO family of companies are deeply saddened and shocked with the terrible loss of life caused by the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province. We have all seen pictures of the damage done to people’s homes, and business and our deepest sympathy goes out to all the victims and to the entire Chinese nation for this terrible tragedy.

Immediately after the earthquake struck we contacted our local staff in the affected area to ensure they and their families were safe and fortunately, no one from our staff was hurt. We also spoke to many of the leaders of our major customers to see what we could do to help during this difficult time. Some plants were cut off from supplies due to damage to the railways, so we have arranged road transportation of goods to them so that they can continue to operate. We were distressed to find out that two of our friends from Panzhihua Steel Group who were in Chengdu area, lost their lives. We can only hope that no one else who we know will have suffered the same fate.

We have all watched the heroic efforts of the government personnel and local people trying to rescue those trapped under the rubble of fallen buildings. Many of our employees in China, both local and foreign, have already made substantial personal donations to help alleviate the pain and suffering in the short term but I know that thousands of people over a wide area will be in need of help in the weeks and months to come. As such, our company is donating RMB 1 million to the relief effort, which I hope will help in some small measure to assist the people in immediate need.

China is a strong and resilient country and I know it will recover from this disaster as it has always done in the past.

Our best wishes and prayers go out to all those affected by the earthquake and to all Chinese people.

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