Mueller Industries, Inc. acquired Die-Mold Tool Limited, an Ontario, Canada-based manufacturer of plastic PEX and other plumbing-related fittings and an integrated designer and manufacturer of plastic injection tooling.

Mueller entered PEX pipe markets in May 2017 when it bought PexCor Manufacturing Co. and HeatLink Group Inc., two Calgary, Alberta-based companies that shared common ownership. The company said at the time that the acquisitions were strategic to its flow-control products in pressure plastics. PexCor is a PEX pipe producer and Die-Mold's fittings expertise complements PEX pipe production.

Mueller deems PEX pipe as strategic to its piping systems segment, even though the PEX acquisitions are tiny compared with its sales of copper pipe and related metal products. Last year the piping systems segment logged sales of $1.56 billion, or 68 percent of sales.

"In 2018 we are excited about opportunities to grow in the pressure plastics piping systems arena," Mueller stated in its 2017 annual report.