Photos: JD Fields & Company, Inc.
JD Fields & Company, Inc. (JDF) – a leading U.S. steel products distributor for oil and gas pipeline and civil infrastructure – is continuing its path to expand into steel manufacturing. In January, the company announced plans for JDF/HDM Spiralweld Mill in Sinton, Texas. The state-of-the-art facility represents an exclusive material partnership between Houston-based JDF and the integrated Turkish manufacturing company HDM Tube Ltd., a leading pipe piling producer.
Since 2012, JDF and HDM have formed a partnership to successfully supply contractors and owners spiralwelded pipe for marine piling and deep foundation applications throughout North America. The two companies formed their latest joint venture to bring the premier spiralweld manufacturing capabilities to North America while creating up to 50 quality manufacturing jobs in the region. The JDF/HDM Spiralweld Mill will become a highly efficient and sought-after source for heavy civil and marine pile foundation projects when completed in late 2021.
“HDM has been a perfect manufacturing partner for us over the past several years,” said Jay Fields, president and COO of JDF. “This was a prime opportunity for both of our companies to branch out together to create something unique right here in the United States.”
The JDF/HDM Spiralweld Mill represents HDM’s first venture in the U.S., giving both companies the ability to manufacture wall thicknesses currently unavailable in the marketplace from other domestic manufacturers. The Sinton location will primarily serve North American markets delivering high quality, low-cost steel piling via truck, rail and barge to US DOT, Buy American, private and commercial projects.
The mill will provide tubular products for transportation, marine and infrastructure foundation projects as well as other related specialty structural steel. These diverse capabilities from a domestic producer will be a welcomed option to meet the engineering specifications often required by the Federal Highway Authority, Department of Transportation, and other agencies, as well as public and private port authorities.
“Over the past 35 years, we have established ourselves as a foremost supplier of steel foundation systems and solutions,” Fields said. “Those experiences and successes have led our business model down this path of vertical integration as a manufacturer, and we could not have a better partner than our good friends at HDM.”
Construction on the new mill will begin in the next few months at the Steel Dynamics Inc. steel production facility in Sinton, one of only a few downstream campus partners on the domestic steel giant’s 2,600-acre campus. A location at the source of the coil production will offer numerous efficiencies and manufacturing advantages. Furthermore, campus neighbour and steel processor JM Steel has agreed to slit coil for the joint venture pipe producer.
“From our initial meetings, Tony Calandra and I related to one another as family business owners,” Fields said about the group president of Frank Calandra Inc., and Calandra Group, LLC that oversees JM Steel. “The more we get to know each other’s business, the more we see opportunities to work together.”
For over 35 years, JD Fields has established a reputation as a leading vendor, providing application and technical expertise for critical civil infrastructure materials. The prolific company’s new joint venture marks the latest evolutionary leap toward vertical integration as a steel pile producer following the recent acquisition of Alameda Pipe & Fab Company in California. The new spiralweld mill will further increase JDF’s production and fabrication capabilities to continue supplying top-quality niche steel products with better domestic options for contractors and engineers.
HDM is the one of the largest producers of spiralweld structural pipe piling in the world with a global reputation for high-quality pipe with low-cost integrated services in marine pile foundations. With current manufacturing operations in Turkey and England, their Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures and commitment to excellence have made them one of the most reputable manufacturers in the industry.
The company’s proprietary spiralweld mill technology offers advantages to rolling smaller diameters in heavy wall thicknesses. The mill will also produce rolled and welded cans, offer structural fabrication and coatings for turnkey deliveries to the jobsite. HDM is known for its comprehensive QA/QC program, in addition to its unique ability to work directly with end users and contractors to customize and meet highly engineered project specifications. 