Court Rules in Favor of SGL CARBON Corporation, Denies Motion to Dismiss Chapter 11 Case.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 1999--

Company's Chapter 11 Case Held to be Consistent with Bankruptcy Code

SGL CARBON Corporation ("the Company") announced today that on Friday, April 23, 1999, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled in the Company's favor and denied a motion to dismiss its pending Chapter 11 case. In his ruling, Judge Joseph J. Farnan stated that SGL CARBON Corporation's Chapter 11 filing 'was consistent with, rather than an abuse of, the purposes of the Bankruptcy Code.'

"We are pleased that the Court has ruled in our favor, finding that our Chapter 11 case is consistent with the bankruptcy code," said Wayne Burgess, SGL CARBON Corporation's President. "This ruling sustains our continued belief that Chapter 11 is the best approach for our Company to use in addressing the antitrust claims made against it, while protecting our ongoing business."

SGL CARBON Corporation filed its voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on December 16, 1998 (ref. case No. 98-2779-JJF). SGL CARBON Corporation was the only entity that filed for Chapter 11 protection. Subsidiaries of SGL CARBON Corporation, including CMS Graphite, MGP, SGL Technic (California), SGL Technic (Ohio), SGL CARBON Composites and Speer Canada did not file for Chapter 11 protection, nor did its parent, SGL CARBON AG of Wiesbaden, Germany.

The motion to dismiss the case was filed by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Company's Chapter 11 case on January 12, 1999. Subsequently, several other parties, including Nucor Corporation and Co-Steel Inc., independently joined the motion.

SGL CARBON Corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is engaged in the business of manufacturing, marketing and distributing carbon and graphite products, principally graphite electrodes and specialty graphite products. The Company has approximately 1,200 employees located in Charlotte and Morganton, North Carolina; St. Marys, Pennsylvania; Niagara Falls, New York; Ozark, Arkansas; Hickman, Kentucky; Dallas and Irving, Texas and Hillsboro, Oregon. Subsidiaries of the Company employ approximately 700 people, principally in Gardena and Valencia, California. SGL CARBON Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of SGL CARBON AG (NYSE:SGG) based in Wiesbaden, Germany.

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. It contains forward-looking statements and information relating to sales and earnings figures, based on currently available information. Actual future results and trends could differ materially from those set forth in such statements due to various factors. Such factors include that announced additions to electric arc furnace ("EAF") steel production capacity may not occur or even decrease or that EAF steel production or prices for graphite electrodes may decrease, and the possibility of changing economic and competitive conditions, changes in currency rates, technological developments, unanticipated developments relating to recently acquired businesses and changes in the composition of the group companies, unforeseen difficulties relating to the investigations by the US Department of Justice, Canadian and European authorities and the related civil actions, and other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SGL CARBON Corporation does not intend, and does not assume any obligations, to update these forward-looking statements.