A. M. Castle & Co. Announces Filing of Universal Shelf Registration Statement

November 5, 2009

FRANKLIN PARK, Ill., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A. M. Castle & Co. (NYSE: CAS), a global distributor of specialty metal and plastic products, value-added services and supply chain solutions, announced today that it has filed a universal shelf registration statement on Form S-3 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If and when declared effective by the SEC, the shelf registration statement will allow the Company to sell securities in one or more separate offerings in amounts and at prices and terms to be determined at the time of sale.

The registration statement is intended to provide the Company with the flexibility to offer and sell from time to time in the future up to $100 million of equity, debt or other types of securities described in the registration statement, or any combination of such securities. If securities are issued, the Company may use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions, capital expenditures, working capital, and repayment of debt. However, the Company currently does not have any specific plans to offer securities under the registration statement.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC, but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell securities, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. There shall not be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state. Any offer of these securities will be made solely by means of the prospectus included in the registration statement and any prospectus supplement that may be issued with respect to such offering.

About A. M. Castle & Co.

Founded in 1890, A. M. Castle & Co. is a global distributor of specialty metal and plastic products and supply chain services, principally serving the producer durable equipment sector of the economy. Its customer base includes many Fortune 500 companies as well as thousands of medium and smaller-sized firms spread across a variety of industries. Within its metals business, it specializes in the distribution of alloy and stainless steels; nickel alloys; aluminum and carbon. Through its subsidiary, Total Plastics, Inc., the Company also distributes a broad range of value-added industrial plastics. Together, Castle operates over 56 locations throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CAS".

Cautionary Statement on Risks Associated with Forward Looking Statements

Information provided and statements contained in this release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"), Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"), and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements only speak as of the date of this release and the Company assumes no obligation to update the information included in this release. Such forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business strategy. These statements often include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "predict," "plan," or similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of performance or results, and they involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are many factors that could affect our actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including those risk factors identified in Item 1A "Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008. All future written and oral forward-looking statements by us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to above. Except for our ongoing obligations to disclose material information as required by the federal securities laws, we do not have any obligations or intention to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances in the future or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE A. M. Castle & Co.