As Ford Authority reported yesterday, an aluminum plant owned and operated by Novelis in Oswego, New York was recently ravaged by a massive fire, which will reportedly keep it offline until early 2026. Trouble is, Novelis provides around 40 percent of the U.S. auto industry’s total aluminum sheeting, with much of it coming from that particular plant – and Ford is its biggest customer, with Ford F-Series production expected be impacted in a major way. The Blue Oval is working to mitigate the problem and utilize its other aluminum suppliers to compensate for this loss, but it could wind up costing the automaker quite a lot of money, regardless.
According to Reuters, a note from consumer research firm Evercore ISI sent out earlier today states that the aluminum plant fire could ultimately cost Ford a whopping $1 billion, given the fact that it could impact production of the F-Series line of pickups through the end of the year, though the plant isn’t expected to come back fully online until Q1 2026. Analysts believe that Ford stands to take the biggest financial hit from this disaster, though Novelis also supplies aluminum to several other automakers as well.
“We believe this is largely a Ford issue, at this time being, although we are continuing to check knock-on effects for [Stellantis] and Toyota as well,” Evercore’s Chris McNally wrote in the note, which outlined a $500 million to $1 billion hit to Ford’s EBIT (earnings before tax and interest).
“Novelis is one of several aluminum suppliers to Ford. 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 spokesperson for the automaker said in a statement. However, Ford declined to comment on the note from Evercore analysts.
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