Growth Markets
March 3, 2026
Ardagh sees growth from beverage cans
Written by Stephanie Ritenbaugh
Beverage packaging company Ardagh reported a 3% growth in shipments during 2025, bolstered by aluminum can share.
“In each of our markets, the beverage can continues to take a higher share of our customers’ packaging mix, driven by the can’s convenience, branding potential, total cost of ownership and sustainability credentials,” Oliver Graham, CEO of Ardagh Metal Packaging, said during the company’s earnings call last week.
“We anticipate continued supportive global industry shipments growth in 2026, with more modest shipments growth for AMP as a result of some softness in North America following contract resets,” Graham added.
Global beverage can shipments grew by 3% for the full year versus the prior year. Of that, 5% growth was from the Americas. North American growth of 6% offset a decline of 2% in Brazil. Europe gained 2%.
Metal packaging revenue for the year gained 12% to $5.4 billion from the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 10% to $739 million for the year.
Ardagh executives said the company continues to manage a tight metal supply situation after disruptions in one of its major suppliers’ rolling mill facilities.
“This is causing operational challenges, and we incurred additional costs in Q4, which we anticipate will persist through the first half of the year ahead of the restoration of capacity as well as the ramp-up of new domestic supply,” Graham said.
Midwest premium
Asked about the persistent highs in the Midwest premium, Graham said the hopes the numbers come down soon “because it’s very extreme and it doesn’t make any sense in terms of the aluminum supply chain.”
As for switching materials, Graham said there are several trends supporting can growth.
“There are some strong trends that are driving the growth in terms of the way innovation has gone into the can. The sort of retail shelf sets that have been put in place to accommodate that. The consumer reaction to cans versus plastics. Some of the energy cost issues that we see and the overall cost issues we see on the glass side.”
“I think there’s some big trends behind the growth of the can as well,” Graham said. “Obviously, there may be some headwind at some point from the high aluminum costs, but we’re not seeing it in the data. And we’re not seeing it in our sales at this point.”
Outlook
Looking ahead, the full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA is expected to range between $750 million and $775 million. The growth will be supported by modest global shipments growth, operating cost improvements and currency effects, the company said.
First-quarter adjusted EBITDA is expected to range between $160 million and $170 million. This compares with Q1 2025 adjusted EBITDA of $155 million and laps strong prior-year shipments growth of 6%, the company said.
