Mueller Co. Gets New President
Mueller Water Products announced that Gregory Rogowski has been named president of its Mueller Co. water distribution subsidiary. Rogowski joins Mueller Co. from Performance Fibers, where from 2004-2009 he was president and CEO of the world's largest polyester industrial fibers business with $1.0 billion in revenue and 11 manufacturing locations.

Total Fitting and Valve Hires Clint Jordan
Total Fitting and Valve, Inc. announced the addition of Clint Jordan as Stainless Steel Division manager. Jordan brings with him over 40 years of stainless experience. Total Fitting and Valve is a privately held master distributor based in Baton Rouge, LA.   Although stainless has long been a small portion of Total Fitting's business to supply houses, this move signals a larger inventory of stainless items.

USS Names Two Raw Material Heads
United States Steel Corp. announced that William McFadden has been named general manager-raw materials for U. S. Steel's North American operations. He replaces Steven McFatridge, who takes over a similar position for U. S. Steel's European operations. McFadden, 44, has been with USS since 2001 and most recently served as manager-raw materials at corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh.

200+ Attend PVF Roundtable Meeting
The PVF Roundtable continues to grow in popularity as one of the industry's most vibrant networking groups. More than 200 people showed up for its latest quarterly meeting on May 19 at the Hess Club in downtown Houston. Featured speaker was a former customs agent turned lawyer, who spoke about the risks of exporting without proper documentation.

Emerson Buys Norway's Roxar
Emerson announced it has acquired Roxar, a technology solutions provider to the upstream oil and gas industry. Roxar becomes part of Emerson Process Management. Headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, Roxar has annual revenues of U.S. $200 million.

ITC Votes To Continue China OCTG Cases
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) voted unanimously on May 22 that there is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is threatened with material injury by reason of imports of oil country tubular goods from China that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the U.S. at less than fair value. As a result, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue to conduct its countervailing duty and antidumping investigations on imports of these products from China, with its preliminary countervailing duty determination due on or about July 2, 2009, and its preliminary antidumping determinations due on or about September 15, 2009.

Pipe & Tube Makers Call For China Currency Reform
Representatives of the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports (CPTI) joined other business and labor representatives at a Congressional press conference on May 13 to provide their support for the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act that day. Bill Kerins, president of Wheatland Tube Co. and vice chairman of the CPTI, said that the reintroduction of this legislation is the next step in ending the practice of currency manipulation by China and emphasized that "fair and free trade cannot exist when the world's third largest economy manipulates its currency to benefit exporters to the U.S. market." The CPTI is comprised of U.S. companies who manufacture a variety of carbon and stainless steel pipe, tube and fittings products.

ISH China Slated For Beijing Next March
The 8th ISH China trade fair will be held March 10-12, 2010, at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. Products on display will span HVAC, renewable energies, installation techniques and equipment, water treatment and equipment, along with sanitation technology and equipment. In addition to the exposition, there will be a Sino-European Congress to discuss energy and technology topics, along with seminars and product demonstrations.