Press Release

-- 72% of the respondents ranked Kennametal first as a company they currently use to purchase cutting tools. (Tooling & Production Survey, 2009.) -- 89% put Kennametal at top of name recognition for cutting tool providers (Tooling & Production Survey, 2009) -- 62% of respondents named Kennametal tops - most recognized brand, offered the best range of services and number one in customer service (PLANT Canada's Industry Newspaper, 2008)LATROBE, Pa., April 27, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT) announced today that the company recently received top ratings in Tooling & Production Magazine's 2009 Cutting Tools Survey. Seventy-two percent of respondents named Kennametal as a company they currently use to purchase cutting tools, with the nearest competition 15 percent lower at 57 percent. Eighty-nine percent of those surveyed put Kennametal at the very top of their name recognition list for cutting tool providers.

The purpose of the 2009 Cutting Tools Survey (Click here) was to determine brand awareness and which brands/types of cutting tools are being used among Tooling & Production's subscribers. Also discovered were important attributes for brand purchase, current plans for purchase, present budgets, and expectations for future cutting tool budgets.

"We are honored to be recognized at the top of the list by readers in our industry for the second year in a row," said Kennametal Chairman, President and CEO Carlos Cardoso. "The recognition in Tooling & Production Magazine's survey supports one of Kennametal's core strategies to be first in customer mindshare and to be seen as the productivity partner of choice. We are committed to providing those customers with products and services designed to improve their productivity."

In 2008, Kennametal was also chosen as the top cutting tool manufacturer by readers who responded to a survey in PLANT, Canada's Industry Newspaper. Sixty-two percent of respondents named Kennametal "tops," considerably ahead of the competition. Kennametal was the most recognized brand, offered the best range of services, and was number one in customer service. Customer Excellence is one of the company's core ambitions and a part of Kennametal's management operating model, the Kennametal Value Business System (KVBS).

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT) is a leading global supplier of tooling, engineered components and advanced materials consumed in production processes. The company improves customers' competitiveness by providing superior economic returns through the delivery of application knowledge and advanced technology to master the toughest of materials application demands. Companies producing everything from airframes to coal, from medical implants to oil wells and from turbochargers to motorcycle parts recognize Kennametal for extraordinary contributions to their value chains. As of the prior fiscal year end, customers bought approximately $2.7 billion annually of Kennametal products and services -- delivered by our 14,000 talented employees in over 60 countries -- with more than 50 percent of these revenues coming from outside North America. Visit us at www.kennametal.com to review the survey results. [KMT-G]

SOURCE Kennametal Inc.

http://www.kennametal.com