Dofasco appoints new president, CEO

Brian MacNeill, chairman of the board of Dofasco Inc., has announced that Dofasco President and CEO, Don Pether, has indicated he will retire from his current responsibilities, effective July 21, 2006. On behalf of Dofasco's Board, MacNeill also announced that Jacques Chabanier will be appointed president and CEO to succeed Pether, effective the same date.

Pether will become nonexecutive chairman of Dofasco's board of directors, also effective July 21, at which time MacNeill will resign from the board to help facilitate a seamless succession in the company's leadership.

"Since becoming CEO in 2003 Don Pether has provided superb leadership to Dofasco in a time of rapid and fundamental change in the steel industry. He has been instrumental in ensuring that the integration process with Arcelor has been a positive and exciting process for all involved. His many contributions to the company and to the steel industry over a distinguished career have been profound", said MacNeill.

Pether joined the company in 1970. He served in various leadership positions at Dofasco, including plant metallurgist; general sales manager; vice president – commercial; executive vice president Dofasco Inc. and general manager Dofasco Hamilton; and president and CEO.

Chabanier, a 34-year veteran of the steel industry, has been working with Dofasco's leadership team since the company was acquired by Arcelor in February of this year, helping to facilitate the integration of the two companies. He joined Usinor, one of the mother companies of Arcelor, in 1972 as operations engineer at the Dunkirk steel plant in the Northern part of France, where he rose to become general manager from 1988 to 1992. Between 1992 and 2002, he held various senior leadership positions within Usinor, including CEO of the company's Pipes and Tubes division, head of strategy of the Usinor Group CEO of the Long Stainless Products Division, general manager of Flat Carbon Steel Marketing and Sales, and CEO of the North American Flat Stainless Division. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of Usinor. At the creation of Arcelor, he was promoted to senior executive vice president, in charge of Purchasing, IS/IT, R&D and the Strategic Alliance between Arcelor and Nippon Steel of Japan, a position he held until recently.