The recent fire at the Oswego Novelis plant is causing a major disruption in the auto manufacturing business. The fire caused extensive damage to a key part of the aluminum plant.
The building most damaged housed the hot mill, where the sheet aluminum used in the auto industry is made. The hot mill was rendered unusable. It will be offline until early 2026.
According to a report in the Oct. 7 Wall Street Journal, it will disrupt business at Ford Motor Company and other automakers for months to come.
The plant supplies about 40% of the aluminum sheet used by the auto industry in the U.S., according to industry analysts. Ford is the biggest user of the plant. Its F-150 pickup, the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. and the automaker’s main profit driver, is one of the industry’s biggest users of aluminum, the WSJ reported. Ford shares sank in morning trading by more than 7% on news of the potential disruption.
Novelis produces more than 350,000 metric tons of sheet aluminum annually for the automotive industry, according to industry analysts. Around a dozen automakers get aluminum from Novelis.
“This represents a serious question for the production of F-150 because that’s the aluminum that comes out of Oswego,” Kaustubh Chandorkar, an aluminum-industry analyst told the WSJ.
Ford uses several aluminum suppliers in addition to Novelis.
“Since the fire nearly three weeks ago, Ford has been working closely with Novelis and a full team is dedicated to addressing the situation and exploring all possible alternatives to minimize any potential disruptions,” a company statement said.
Novelis, which is part of India’s Hindalco Industries said it is turning to some of its plants overseas to supply aluminum for its U.S. customers, the WSJ reported.
The company operates rolling plants in Europe, Brazil and South Korea. But Novelis is currently subject to a 50% U.S. tariff on imported aluminum.
The cause of the Sept. 16 blaze remains under investigation.
