Steel Supply

What Steel Supply does

Steel Supply, L.P. is a Houston, Texas-based steel service center and metal distributor founded in 1990. The company supplies structural steel, pipe fittings, welding supplies, ornamental iron, and value-added fabrication services to construction contractors, industrial facilities, professional welders and fabricators, fence and gate installers, and individual hobbyists. Operations span three Houston-area locations totaling 23 acres and 185,000 square feet of warehouse space, with both service centers featuring unique drive-thru windows for will-call orders and a 24/7 emergency response team for urgent steel and pipe fitting needs.

The company's product breadth covers structural steel in grades A36, A529-50, A572-50, A588, stainless steel, and aluminum across angles, beams, channels, flats, pipe, tubing, bar stock, plate, sheet, gratings, and expanded metal. Its pipe fittings catalog includes over 4,260 SKUs spanning weld fittings, flanges, valves, nipples, elbows, tees, reducers, and miscellaneous fittings in carbon, forged, stainless, and aluminum materials. Fabrication capability is delivered through Messer plasma tables with Hypertherm power supplies, Hyd-Mech automatic saws, Accushear 637512 shears, and TRU-WELD ARC stud guns, supporting plasma cutting with beveling head, beam splitting, plasma etching for permanent part marking, custom stud welding up to 1.25 inches, and shearing capacity up to 3/8 x 12' mild steel.

Revenue is generated primarily through one-time product sales across the five product lines plus professional-services revenue from custom fabrication, with pricing structured around unit pricing by product type, grade, dimensions, and quantity, and a $5 minimum online order. Distribution is hybrid: walk-in will-call at the two Houston service centers, company-owned delivery trucks providing near-universal next-day delivery in the Greater Houston metro area, and nationwide shipping via UPS for small packages and LTL Freight for large orders. Customers are served across Texas (including Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and 200+ additional communities) and nationwide via the e-commerce storefront. The company has been recognized as a 2025 Great Place to Work Certified employer and a 2025 Top Workplace by the Houston Chronicle. Ownership remains private with no parent company, venture backing, or institutional investment indicated in available sources.

Name

Steel Supply

Legal name

Steel Supply L.P.

Website

https://steelsupplylp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Steel Supply, L.P. is a Houston-based steel service center and metal distributor founded in 1990, serving construction, industrial, fabrication, and DIY customers across Texas and nationwide with structural steel, pipe fittings, welding supplies, ornamental iron, and in-house fabrication across three locations totaling 185,000 square feet.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Structural Steel Distribution & Metal Services

NAICS

Metal Service Centers and Other Metal Merchant Wholesalers (423510), Other Metal Valve and Pipe Fitting Manufacturing (332919), Iron and Steel Pipe and Tube Manufacturing from Purchased Steel (33121)

SIC

Steel Pipe & Tubes (3317), Miscellaneous Primary Metal Products (3390)

akta.pro primary industry

Steel Service Centers & Processing (Slitting, Cut-to-Length, Blanking, Leveling) (IMAKABAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Steel Plate, Sections & Welded Assemblies (IMADACAD), Pipe & Tube Manufacturing (Seamless & Welded OCTG/Line Pipe/Structural Tube) (IMAKABAI)

Keywords

• Structural steel distribution
• Pipe fittings supply
• Metal fabrication services
• Welding supplies
• Ornamental iron products

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Structural Steel Sales: One-time and recurring sales of structural steel products including angles, beams, channels, flats, pipe, tubing, bar stock, plate, sheet, and expanded metal. Products sold in various grades including A36, A529-50, A572-50, A588, stainless steel, and aluminum. Both wholesale and retail quantities available.
2. Pipe Fittings Sales: Sales of industrial pipe fittings including weld fittings, flanges, valves, nipples, elbows, tees, reducers, and miscellaneous fittings. Stocks carbon steel, forged steel, stainless steel, and aluminum fittings in various sizes and classes.
3. Value-Added Fabrication Services: Revenue from fabrication services including sawing, shearing, plasma cutting, beam splitting, and custom stud welding. Custom cut-to-spec orders processed through production saws and plasma tables.
4. Welding Supplies Sales: Sales of welding equipment and consumables including welding machines, filler metals, torches, regulators, safety products, abrasives, and power tools. Serves both weekend warriors and high-volume professional welders.
5. Ornamental Iron Products: Sales of decorative iron products including spears, finials, gate hardware, balusters, panels, rosettes, scrolls, and handrail components. Forged steel, cast iron, and aluminum elements for fences, railings, and gates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Steel Supply LP is a Houston-based steel service center and metal distributor selling structural steel products (angles, beams, channels, flats, pipe, tubing, plate, sheet), industrial pipe fittings, welding supplies, and ornamental iron products. The company also provides value-added fabrication services including production sawing, shearing, plasma cutting, beam splitting, and custom stud welding, with both wholesale and retail quantities available.

Product overview

Steel Supply, L.P. operates as a steel service center and metal distributor offering five interconnected product lines: Structural Steel (angles, beams, channels, flats, pipe, tubing, bar stock, plate, gratings, and specialty items), Pipe Fittings (weld fittings, flanges, nipples, valves, and forged fittings), Value Added Services/Fabrication (sawing, shearing, plasma cutting, beam splitting, and stud welding), Welding Supplies (machines, filler metals, safety equipment, and accessories), and Ornamental Iron (decorative elements for fencing and railings). The company provides both wholesale and retail quantities with 185,000 square feet of warehouse space across three Houston locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Structural Steel Comprehensive inventory of structural steel products including angles, beams, channels, flats, pipe, tubing, bar stock, plate, sheet, gratings, and expanded metal in carbon steel (A36, A529-50, A572-50, A588), stainless steel, and aluminum. Sold in both wholesale and retail quantities for construction and structural applications.
• Pipe Fittings Complete line of industrial pipe fittings including weld fittings, flanges, nipples, forged steel fittings, valves, elbows, tees, reducers, and miscellaneous fittings in carbon steel, forged steel, stainless steel, and aluminum across various sizes and classes. Over 4,260 different fittings available in stock.
• Value Added Fabrication Services Steel fabrication and metalworking services including production sawing, shearing, custom stud welding (using TRU-WELD ARC stud guns capable of welding studs up to 1.25 inches in diameter), beam splitting (cutting wide flange beams into tee beams), plasma cutting with beveling head capability using Messer plasma tables with Hypertherm power supplies, and plasma etching for permanent part marking.
• Welding Supplies Full range of welding supplies including welding machines, filler metals (stick, MIG, TIG), torches, regulators, safety products, abrasives, and accessories. Backed by 60+ years of combined welding supply staff experience. Serves both professional welders and weekend warriors.
• Ornamental Iron Decorative and functional iron products including spears, finials, caps, gate hardware, balusters, posts, panels, steel cutouts, rosettes, scrolls, and handrail components for fencing, railing, and gate applications. Available in forged steel, cast iron, and aluminum elements with a $5 minimum order and overnight shipping available.

Quantifiable outcome

• Almost always next day delivery in Greater Houston area
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Ryerson Holding Corporation: National steel service center and value-added processor offering a broad range of carbon, stainless, and aluminum products with fabrication services. Highly comparable in product breadth, value-added processing, and industrial customer base, though operating at much larger national scale.
• Kloeckner Metals Corporation: U.S. subsidiary of Klöckner & Co offering steel, stainless, and aluminum products plus processing services through a network of service centers. Directly comparable in distribution-plus-fabrication model and industrial/construction customer segments.
• McNichols Company: National metal service center specializing in perforated metal, grating, expanded metal, and bar grating, with nationwide shipping and e-commerce ordering. Comparable as a metal service center with strong online ordering and quick-ship inventory model, though narrower product focus than Steel Supply.
• TW Metals: Specialty metals distributor and processor of stainless, aluminum, and nickel alloy products serving aerospace, petrochemical, and industrial markets. Comparable in service-center-plus-processing model with pipe, tube, and fittings focus overlapping with Steel Supply's pipe fittings business.

Broad incumbents

• Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. Largest U.S. metals service center operator with a national network of facilities and an extremely broad product portfolio including steel, aluminum, and specialty alloys. Overlaps with Steel Supply on metal service center model, value-added processing, and industrial customer mix, but at far greater scale and geographic diversification.
• EMJ (Earle M. Jorgensen Company): National distributor of carbon, alloy, stainless, and aluminum bar, sheet, and plate products with extensive value-added processing. Comparable as a steel service center and processor serving industrial and construction customers, though larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• Russel Metals: North American metals service center and processor with operations across Canada and the U.S. distributing steel, aluminum, and specialty products. Comparable in steel service center operations and value-added processing, though primarily Canadian-focused with U.S. exposure in select regions.

Regional players

• Industrial Metal Supply Co. West Coast-based metal service center with retail and wholesale operations offering steel, aluminum, stainless, and ornamental products plus processing. Comparable product mix and walk-in/retail service model, but primarily serves Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada rather than Texas.

Emerging players

• Metal Supermarkets: Franchise-based small-quantity metal service center model targeting SMBs, hobbyists, and contractors with retail storefronts across North America. Comparable in low-minimum-order customer experience and SMB/DIY orientation, though more fragmented and smaller average order sizes than Steel Supply.
• OnlineMetals.com: Online-first metals retailer offering small-quantity metals shipping nationwide to hobbyists, makers, and SMB customers. Comparable in low-friction e-commerce ordering for metals, but focuses on smaller quantities and different end-customers than Steel Supply's contractor-heavy book.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCp5mAcxfQpdoDOvjdG2p9FA
• Facebookfacebook.com/SteelSupplyHouston
• Instagraminstagram.com/steelsupply_lp/?hl=en
• Xx.com/steelsupplylp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Steel Supply