NEW YORK — A Texas judge has moved a lawsuit against Nucor-Yamato Steel Co. to another district, according to court documents.

In a decision filed Dec. 4 in U.S. District Court in southern Texas, the judge partially granted a motion from Nucor-Yamato requesting that the court consider dismissing and transferring the case.

Houston-based steel piling and pipe distributor JD Fields & Co. Inc. filed the original complaint against Blytheville, Ark.-based Nucor-Yamato for estimated damages of at least $40 million. JD Fields alleged that Nucor-Yamato had offered preferential pricing to its Parsippany, N.J.-based competitor Skyline Steel LLC (amm.com, June 28).

Judge Sim Lake agreed that the case should be moved to U.S. District Court in eastern Arkansas, court documents show, and said that the motion to dismiss was now moot since the case would be considered in that court.