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Fire at Aluminum Plant Puts Automakers in Supply Crunch

Upstate NY plant supplied around 40% of sheet aluminum used by US automakers
Posted Oct 7, 2025 9:52 PM CDT

A major fire at a plant responsible for nearly 40% of the aluminum sheet used by US automakers has caused supply chain problems that could take months to untangle. The Sept. 16 fire at the Novelis plant in Oswego, New York rendered a key part of the facility unusable and required the efforts of 175 firefighters from 26 departments to contain, the Wall Street Journal reports. The consequences are far-reaching, especially for Ford, which uses Oswego's aluminum to build its top-selling F-150 pickups. Ford's stock, which had been rising in recent weeks, fell more than 6% after the Journal's report Wednesday.

Novelis spokeswoman tells the Detroit Free Press that the fire was contained to the plant's hot mill area, where large blocks of aluminum known as ingots are turned into sheet aluminum. Novelis, part of India's Hindalco, says the plant won't be back online until early next year. Though Ford says it works with multiple aluminum suppliers, the automaker has rallied a dedicated team to find workarounds and expects to address the fallout in its upcoming quarterly report. Other major customers—Toyota, Stellantis, Hyundai, and Volkswagen among them—are pulling levers to blunt the impact, but industry analysts warn that few rivals have spare capacity to fill the gap.

Novelis is turning to its overseas operations in Europe, Brazil, and South Korea to pick up some slack, but a hefty 50% US tariff on imported aluminum looms over that plan. The company is also collaborating with competitors in an attempt to shore up supply, though the industry's margin for error is slim. This incident is the latest in a string of supply chain headaches for carmakers, who are still feeling the aftershocks of trade wars, pandemic shutdowns, and a global chip shortage, the Journal reports.

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