HUNTCO INC.
                     14323 SOUTH OUTER FORTY - SUITE 600N
                        TOWN & COUNTRY, MISSOURI   63017

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
HUNTCO INC. ADVISED BY NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE REGARDING LISTING STANDARDS

TOWN & COUNTRY, MISSOURI, February 2, 2001 . . . . . Huntco Inc.
(NYSE:"HCO"), an intermediate steel processor, announced that it has been
advised by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that the Company fell below the
NYSE's continued listing criteria relating to total market capitalization.
The NYSE requires that the Company's market capitalization must equal or
exceed $15 million over a 30-day trading period.  With 8,942,000 shares of
common stock outstanding, the Company must maintain a minimum $1.68 per
common share stock price to be in compliance with this standard.  Although
the Company has not met this criterion over a 30 consecutive trading day
period since October 2000, the price of the Company's Class A common stock
has traded between $1.50 and $1.81 over the past ten trading days.

Under NYSE rules, the NYSE may grant a period of up to 18 months during which
time the Company would need to meet the market capitalization requirement.
The Company has formally requested that this time period be granted and has
submitted a business plan to the NYSE to demonstrate its ability to achieve
and maintain compliance with this standard.  The NYSE has 45 days to accept
the Company's plan.  If the plan is accepted, the Company will be subject to
quarterly monitoring by the NYSE during the interim period.

Should the Company's shares cease being traded on the NYSE, the Company
believes that an alternate trading venue will be available.

Huntco Inc. is a major, intermediate steel processor, specializing in the
processing of flat rolled carbon steel.