Koppers Holdings Inc. Announces Contract Extensions With BNSF and CSX

Koppers Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koppers Holdings Inc.

announced today that it has agreed to contract extensions with each of its two largest railroad customers, BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) and CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSX). Koppers combined revenues from BNSF and CSX accounted for approximately 40% of 2014 railroad-related sales for Koppers. The agreements extend the contracts to 2021 from the previous 2017 expirations and include commitments for Koppers to provide crossties as well as related products and services to BNSF and CSX through the respective contract periods. Tom Loadman, Senior Vice President of Railroad Products and Services, said, "We are pleased to be able to continue our positive relationships with BNSF and CSX. We have a long history of serving the North American rail network with quality products and services, and hope to continue growing our presence serving that market into the future." Leroy Ball, president and CEO of Koppers, said, "With the variability we have been experiencing in our more volatile Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC) business, we felt the timing was right to extend these key railroad agreements to stabilize a sizable portion of our revenue and earnings for a prolonged period of time. Our focus moving forward will continue to be on emphasizing our higher value business segments as we look to restructure and lessen our exposure to the more cyclical CMC business."