Mr Joseph Alvarado vice president tubular for United States Steel Corporation has been named a director of the Metals Service Center Institute. Mr Alvarado replaces former Lone Star Steel CEO Mr W Byron Dunn who left the company following its acquisition by United States Steel.

Mr Alvarado will serve for the remainder of Mr Dunn’s term which ends on June 30th 2008.

The Metals Service Center Institute founded in 1909 has more than 420 members operating from about 1,200 locations in the US, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere in the world. Together, Metals Service Center Institute members constitute the largest single group of metals purchasers in North America, amounting each year to more than 65 million tons of steel, aluminum and other metals, with about 300,000 manufacturers and fabricators as customers.