JD Fields expands with acquisition

Houston-based steel distributor and manufacturer JD Fields & Co. said Monday that it has acquired a division of a Pittsburgh steel company for $24 million.

JD Fields, a unit of Fields Cos., supplies pipe for oil and gas applications and piling systems for heavy civil, port projects, carrying more than 150,000 tons of inventory to serve North American and international markets. The company said that its acquisition of the piling division of Pittsburgh-based L.B. Foster Co., positions it to take advantage of recent trends that have U.S. companies looking to build supply chains closer to home.

“Supply chain, shipping bottlenecks and rising freight costs are changing the dynamics of our domestic piling industry, and we see the U.S. piling market shifting towards ‘Buy American’ to ensure future availability, deliveries and costs,” said Dean Abbondanza, the director of engineering at JD Fields & Co.

The domestic focus may already be paying off for Texas. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said Monday that factory activity continued its upward trajectory in September, with its latest survey of manufacturing activity showing optimism “well above average and indicative of solid output growth.”

But comments made by industry executives show lingering concerns about rising prices and supplychain issues. From the fabricated metal manufacturing sector, one respondent told the Dallas Fed that those pressures “continue to be major problems” for the industry.

If JD Fields is successful with its domestic plans, some of those pressures could start to ease. Under the terms of the deal, JD Fields will take ownership of L.B. Foster’s steel yard in California as well as facilities that make products from flat steel sheets to wide-flange beams.

The purchase of the L.B. Foster unit, along with last year’s acquisition of California-based Alameda Pipe & Fab, puts JD Fields a step closer to its goal of becoming a leader in domestic steel piling distribution and manufacturing. The strategy is a throwback to days of vertical integration, when companies would own all the components of a business, rather than running core businesses but outsourcing others.

In an earlier interview, Abbondanza said his company “can fill a market niche that other U.S. steel manufacturers can’t provide.”