Esmark Slate Certified as Elected to the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corporation Board of Directors

Business Wire, Dec 1, 2006

CHICAGO -- Esmark Incorporated ("Esmark"), a steel services company supported by global investor Franklin Mutual Advisers, LLC, and advised by JPMorgan, today confirmed that its slate of directors was certified as elected to the board of directors of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corporation (NASDAQ: WPSC) ("Wheeling-Pitt"), by a significant majority with each of the Esmark director candidates receiving over 6.1 million votes to roughly 2.8 million votes for each of the incumbent directors (other than the United Steelworker designees who were not opposed and reelected to the board).

Commenting on the shareholder vote results, Craig Bouchard, Esmark's President and CFO, said, "The vote went as we expected. After months of discussions with major investors of Wheeling-Pitt and the United Steelworkers, we knew that replacing the incumbent board was widely viewed as a critical component to ending the financial difficulties Wheeling-Pitt has endured since emerging from Bankruptcy in 2003. The slate of directors nominated by Esmark took office late yesterday afternoon. We believe that these directors have the knowledge and experience to decide the best path for Wheeling-Pitt - a path that will bolster management depth, transform the balance sheet to mostly equity and add cash and customers very quickly to the commercial base. The overwhelming support shown for the Esmark slate of directors should be viewed as a mandate for Wheeling-Pitt to move forward with Esmark's business strategy."

Bouchard added, "We thank the many Wheeling-Pitt shareholders who have supported our vision and we look forward to working with them in the future. We also thank the United Steelworkers and their leadership for their unfailing support of Esmark in this effort, and look forward to their support of our future transactions."

Note: Mr. Bouchard's comments in this release are solely in his capacity as president and CFO of Esmark and not in any other capacity.

About Esmark

Headquartered in Chicago and founded by the Bouchard Group, Esmark is a steel services family of companies. The mission of Esmark is to establish the benchmark standards for strategic consolidation, operating efficiency and management excellence in the steel sector. More information about Esmark can be found at www.esmark.com. This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include the ability to achieve anticipated cost savings as a result of the proposed merger, competition in the steel industry, dependence on suppliers of raw materials, and cyclical demand for steel products.