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• Sales of 307,000 tons in the quarter, exceeding prior expectations
• EBITDA for the quarter of $1.8 million
• Focused actions during a period of weak market conditions and operational challenges in order to better position WCI Steel for the future
• Continued solid liquidity with $30 million borrowed at the end of the quarter on the $150 million revolving credit facility

WARREN, OHIO, May 14, 2007 - WCI Steel, Inc. (OTC: WCIS.PK) announced today a net loss of $4.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2007. For the quarter, the company reported:

• Shipments of 307,000 tons
• Revenues from product sales of $195.5 million, or $637 per ton
• EBITDA of $1.8 million, or $6 per ton
• Operating loss of $4.6 million
• Net loss of $4.3 million prior to the PIK preferred dividend
• Net loss per share of $1.80 for the quarter

Patrick G. Tatom, president and chief executive officer, said: "Our first quarter performance was modestly better than our prior guidance. Our shipments of 307,000 tons in the quarter exceeded our prior guidance of 290,000 tons largely due to very strong shipments at the end of March. Our average revenue per ton of $637 was $39 per ton below the fourth quarter, but $6 per ton above our guidance for this quarter. Although we are not satisfied with our performance in the quarter, EBITDA in the quarter of $1.8 million would have been $5.2 million without $2.8 million of expense related to the BOF incident and $0.6 million of salaried employee headcount reduction charges included in costs." The supplementary financial information contains a comparison of first quarter actual performance to fourth quarter of 2006 and prior guidance.

First quarter results were adversely affected by a weak market, combined with costs related to damage to one of the two BOF vessels. As previously reported, in late January, one of the two vessels was damaged, limiting production capability. Total repair costs related to the incident were about $6.0 million, of which $2.8 million was expensed in the quarter. The company maintains insurance coverage for a portion of the property damage. Although this vessel was returned to service in mid-March, this event limited sales volume somewhat in the first quarter, but more significantly, it prevented the company from building inventory to meet needs for a scheduled outage in the second quarter.

Cynthia B. Bezik, chief financial officer, noted: "Our liquidity remains strong. At the end of the quarter, we had $1.3 million of cash on hand and $30.5 million borrowed under the $150 million revolving credit facility. Our borrowings under the revolving credit facility increased by only $5.8 million since year-end. Although we invested $18.3 million in capital projects during the quarter, the quarter benefited by a $33.5 million liquidation in inventory, primarily due to the normal seasonal reduction in iron ore combined with lower steel inventories at the end of the quarter."

Capital Expenditures
In late April, WCI Steel completed construction of the $29.3 million baghouse system at its Basic Oxygen Furnace, which will reduce environmental emissions as part of the company's efforts to meet new federal air quality standards. The baghouse system, located on the west end of the BOF, was completed on time and on budget.

The baghouse project is one of two major capital investments currently under way at WCI Steel. Construction of the $36.7 million walking beam furnace at the hot strip mill is ongoing, with start-up scheduled for January 2008. During construction, the company continues to be limited in its ability to produce at the hot strip mill. Once operational, the walking beam furnace will reduce operating costs and allow WCI Steel to expand its custom steel offerings. The walking beam furnace is expected to produce annual operating improvements of between $10 million and $14 million primarily due to energy savings and increased sales of custom products.

Outlook
Second quarter sales volume is expected to be 280,000 tons, reduced from the first quarter level due to operational constraints. As a result, sales of about 587,000 tons are projected for the first half of the year. For the second half of the year, sales volume is anticipated to total about 680,000 tons, resulting in total shipments for the year of approximately 1,267,000 tons, including the sales of semi-finished steel. Once the walking beam furnace is operational in 2008, shipments are expected to approach 1.4 million tons of finished steel.

Second quarter results will be penalized due to the scheduled outage related to the BOF baghouse installation. Due to a challenging start-up at the blast furnace after the BOF baghouse installation, the scheduled outage was extended by an additional two weeks from mid April until early May. The operations have recently returned to normal levels.

Although second quarter pricing is expected to improve by about $30 per ton, costs associated with the production outage, along with reduced sales volume, will result in second quarter EBITDA being modestly negative.

"As we have previously emphasized, our future success is driven by aggressively focusing on three strategies: market differentiation, strengthening our core operations and pursuing external growth opportunities," Tatom said. "Although expected first half results are unacceptable, we are taking the right actions to position WCI Steel for a profitable second half. In the last six months of 2006, we earned EBITDA of $34.8 million. Based on our current market outlook and actions under way, we expect second half performance of 2007 to exceed the same period last year. We remain committed to executing our strategies to build WCI Steel as a strong, custom steel producer."

Background Information
Under the plan of reorganization for WCI Steel, Inc., an Ohio corporation (Old WCI), on May 1, 2006, WCI Steel, Inc., a Delaware corporation, acquired substantially all the assets of Old WCI. On May 1, 2006, WCI Steel issued $100 million 2016 senior secured notes, received $50 million in cash for the issuance of 5.0 million preferred shares and was obligated to issue 4.0 million shares of common stock to the creditors of Old WCI as bankruptcy claims were resolved. As of March 31, 2007, WCI Steel had distributed 3.9 million shares of common stock and expects to distribute the remainder in 2007.

The 5,512,500 shares of preferred stock outstanding as of May 14, 2007 have a 10 percent "payment-in-kind" (PIK) dividend, payable semi-annually on May 1 and November 1. Each share of preferred stock converts into 1.2 shares of common stock no later than May 1, 2008. Assuming conversion of the 5,512,500 shares of preferred stock and the current 4.0 million shares of common stock, WCI Steel had approximately 10.6 million common shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis as of May 14, 2007.

Additional financial information on WCI Steel's financial performance including audited year-end financial statements is available on the company's website www.wcisteel.com under the "Investors" section. Under the Indenture for the $100 million of senior secured notes, WCI Steel plans to exchange the existing notes for new notes with similar terms that will be registered with the SEC. On April 27, 2007, WCI Steel filed its Registration Statement on Form S-4 with the SEC to initiate the process to exchange the notes.

Conference Call
You are invited to listen to the live broadcast of WCI Steel's conference call, in which management will discuss first quarter results and the outlook for the second quarter of 2007, today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call will be available on the Internet at ,www.wcisteel.com, under "Investors" tab. The call will be archived and available for subsequent replay.

About WCI Steel, Inc.
WCI Steel's strength is built on "Custom Steel. Custom Service. Creative Solutions." As an integrated producer of value-added, custom steel products serving niche markets, WCI Steel emphasizes customer and technical service. WCI Steel currently produces 185 grades of flat-rolled custom and commodity steel products at its Warren, Ohio facility. WCI Steel focuses on a wide range of custom flat-rolled steel products, including high carbon, alloy, ultra high strength, and heavy-gauge galvanized steel and on developing closer, more responsive relationships with customers. Major customers are steel converters, processors, service centers, construction product companies, and to a lesser extent, automobile manufacturers.

Forward-Looking Statements
Information contained in this release, other than historical information, should be considered "forward-looking statements" within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

WCI Steel cautions that there are various important factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such indicated events will occur. Among such factors are: general economic and business conditions; demand for WCI Steel's products; changes in industry capacity and levels of imports of steel or steel products; industry trends, including product pricing, competition; the loss of any significant customer; pricing and availability of raw materials and energy; power outages or curtailments; availability of qualified personnel; ability to train the existing workforce; plant operating performance; major equipment failures; the timing and completion of capital projects; changes in, or the failure or inability to comply with, government regulation, including, without limitation, environmental regulations; the outcome of legal matters and other risk factors. Except as required by law, WCI Steel does not assume any responsibility to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future developments or events.


WCI Steel, Inc. Contacts:
ANALYSTS: Cynthia B. Bezik, Vice President and CFO, 330-841-8301
MEDIA: Belinda Cavender, 330-841-8214



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