Lock Joint Tube to Supply Solar Firm From New Texas Mill

The two companies entered into an agreement for Albuquerque, N.M.-based Array to secure structural-grade steel tubing from Lock Joint, which is based in South Bend, Ind., Array said in a statement on Thursday.

The new mill in Temple, Texas, where Lock Joint Tube has established operations, will use locally sourced steel to produce solar tubing as a response to domestic content requirements in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Array said.

“Lock Joint Tube’s newest mill will provide Array with domestic tubing under the IRA, which our customers are demanding in this high-growth market for utility-scale solar,” Array CEO Kevin Hostetler said in the statement.

“By utilizing domestically sourced steel, Lock Joint Tube enables our customers to maximize domestic steel content, which has become essential to the expansion of clean, renewable energy throughout the country, underpinned by a growing US-based supply chain,” Kevin Marks, president at Lock Joint, said.

A ribbon cutting for the facility was held on June 28 in Temple, Array said, adding that Lock Joint Tube also produces tubing for the company at a steel torque tube mill in South Bend.

An email from SMU to Lock Joint requesting comment on the capacity and cost of the mill was not returned by time of publication.