McJunkin Corp., announced a distribution agreement with Velan, Inc., as a supplier of cast carbon, stainless and alloy valves. Headquartered in Montreal, Velan operates 11 manufacturing plants around the world, including one U. S. factory in Williston, VT.

Velan will provide products to all McJunkin locations except for those in the Gulf Coast area. In that area, Velan will support McJunkin only in situations that are "enforced" by the end user, i.e., where an end user chooses to use Velan and selects McJunkin as the distributor.

"We looked at many quality manufacturers and Velan continually ranked at the top," said Gary Ittner, McJunkin's senior vice president of valve & specialty products. "Adding Velan together with our current Kitz offering allows us to bring customers a superior valve solution."

Velan has been pegged by the Industrial Piping Div. of ASA as the world's 10th largest producer of industrial valves. Sales have been estimated at around $200 million (U.S.) annually.