Commemorative ceremony held for US$153 million Syndicated Debt Financing for United Stainless Steel Company B.S.C.

Arab Banking Corporation (B.S.C.) is the Sole Underwriter, Bookrunner and Facility & Security Agent.

The proceeds of the facility will be used to partially finance the construction and operation of a 90,000 tonnes per annum cold rolled stainless steel mill in the Hidd Industrial Area, Kingdom of Bahrain. USCO will be the first cold rolled stainless steel producer in the region.

The ceremony was attended by USCO's Board of Directors, senior management and representatives from the syndicate banks. The event also included a tour of the USCO site facilities.

Mr. Hisham Al-Razzuqi, CEO of Gulf Investment Corporation, the initiator of USCO and one of its major shareholders, said: "GIC is particularly interested in initiating and participating in viable regional projects that add value to the economy, enhance employment opportunities for the national work force and give adequate returns to investors."

Mr. Ghazi Abdul-Jawad, President and Chief Executive of ABC, also announced that ABC had been awarded the sole mandate to arrange and underwrite the US$555 million financing for the expansion of the existing iron ore pelletizing plant owned by Gulf Industrial Investment Company ("GIIC"), which is also based in the Hidd Industrial Area. GIIC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC), Kuwait.

Syndication received strong support from the regional bank market and comprises the following participants:

Mandated Lead Arranger
Arab Banking Corporation (B.S.C.)

Lead Arrangers
Commercial Bank of Qatar (Q.S.C.)
Mashreq Bank psc
National Bank of Abu Dhabi
National Bank of Dubai pjsc
Qatar National Bank S.A.Q.

Arrangers
Abu Dhabi Investment Company
National Bank of Kuwait SAK, Bahrain
The OPEC Fund for International Development
USCO was established in February 2005 and production is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2007. It will be the first company of its kind in the GCC. The project has brought together several strategic GCC private and public sector investors, namely: GIC (Kuwait), QASCO (Qatar), NIG (Kuwait), Al Kharafi Group (Kuwait) and Kuwait Foundry (Kuwait).