The long-delayed Concord facility marks Ball's return to the Carolinas and highlights a broader shift in beverage can demand, with energy drinks and specialty drinks driving growth as supply chains and consumer preferences evolve in tandem.
Novelis' Oswego mill fire has sidelined the largest producer of automotive body and structural sheet in North America, disrupting a closed-loop scrap system and removing over half of regional BIW/closures sheet supply, with limited options for domestic backfill and costly import alternatives.
The extent of the damage is also being examined, a spokesperson said.
Three of the four cast houses are fully commissioned and are producing all 3000, 5000 and 6000 series ingots for industrial, can sheet and automotive sectors.
The August AMU survey reveals lead times lengthening for sheet but easing for billet and extrusions, with distributors, producers, manufacturers, and recyclers each reporting conditions shaped by their position in the value chain.
Novelis is partnering with DRT for 99% recycled content in beverage can end stock, reshaping the numbers behind one of aluminum's most specialized markets.
The group says the bug infestation is due to the company's recycling operations.
Strong beverage demand carried Crown and Ardagh through Q2, but inventory buffers are shrinking and production is running near full tilt.