Economy

JFE Shoji America Completes Purchase of CEMCO

Written by David Schollaert

October 11, 2022

Los Angeles-based JFE Shoji America Holdings Inc. successfully completed the acquisition of California Expanded Metal Products Co. (CEMCO), the company said in an Oct. 10 news release.

The acquisition of the California-based cold-formed steel framing company expands JFE’s steel products business in the US.

CEMCO will continue manufacturing products under the leadership of Tom Porter, CEMCO’s president and CEO, and Ted Poliquin, former chairman and CEO, who will support in an executive advisory role.

Toshihiko Iizuka and Tadao Takahashi will join CEMCO’s leadership team as CFO and vice president of corporate planning, respectively.

“CEMCO fits our acquisition target profile and fills a business portfolio gap,” said Junji Yamada, Shoji America Holdings’ chairman and CEO. “We want to welcome the CEMCO team as the newest member of JFE Shoji America.”

“While it is extremely sad to say goodbye to the Poliquin family as the previous shareholders, we are excited about the new opportunities that JFE brings to our employees, our customers, our vendors, and our business partners,” said Porter.

Headquartered in Industry, Calif., CEMCO operates four manufacturing and distribution facilities, producing more than 300 million lineal feet of steel framing and building products per year. It serves the healthcare, office, retail, education, municipal, and transportation industries.

CEMCO’s product portfolio includes structural and non-structural light-gauge steel framing products, metal lath, proprietary fire-air-sound products, building accessories, and solar structural steel framing.

Tokyo-based JFE Shoji Corp. focuses on upstream to downstream steel-related businesses in Japan, the Americas, China, and ASEAN markets. Its North American offices are in Los Angeles, Houston, and Mexico City.

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

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