Liberty Steel announced today that it has further expanded its footprint in the US steel downstream products market today with the acquisition of Johnstown Wire Technologies (JWT) in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the largest producer of value-added carbon and alloy wire in North America.
The company said in a press release that the acquisition will provide valuable capacity to manufacture a range of high-value carbon and alloy wire products for multiple end markets including the infrastructure, automotive, utility and consumer sectors.
The 638,000 square foot Johnstown site has been a high-profile steel manufacturing facility for over 100 years and is a top-3 US producer of the types of steel that will be needed to modernize America's aging infrastructure - CHQ, electro-galvanized, aluminized and spring wire.
Liberty Steel intends to drive growth at JWT as the US updates its infrastructure and electricity networks, thereby increasing demand for steel products such as support cables and guard rails for bridges and for electrical power lines.
With more than half of JWT's output sold into the transportation market, Liberty is also aiming to capitalize on continued growth in US vehicle production. It is the third largest producer in the US of CHQ wire, which is used in automotive products such as engine block bolts and brake pad rivets.
The acquisition will also add substantially to Liberty's capability to meet the “Made in America” specifications required for public infrastructure and utility contracts.
United Kingdom-based Liberty entered the US market in 2017 by acquiring ArcelorMittal's Georgetown mill and followed up with the purchase of Keystone Consolidated Industries, including its flagship Peoria mill, in 2018.