Steel Products

Lock Joint Tube to Supply Solar Firm From New Texas Mill

Written by Ethan Bernard

July 21, 2023

Lock Joint Tube will supply steel tubing to solar energy company Array Technologies from a new mill in Texas.

clean energyThe 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.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

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