Novelis to restart Oswego aluminium plant early after fire, Ford to increase F-Series production to recover up to $1 billion loss

Repair work at the Oswego site began in early October, after a fire broke out at the hot mill on September 16. 

By the end of October, it had constructed a large-scale scaffolding project to facilitate removal and assessment of the hot mill’s major electrical components. The company's procurement teams had been working to order parts needs to repair the mill, although 1,900 of the 2,455 parts affected were already on hand.

Additionally, work to repair the roof and damage to the building began on October 8 and by October 22, new trusses had begun to be installed for the portion of the roof that needed to be rebuilt. Novelis reported that a small fire occurred during roof repair work at the plant on October 10, but was quickly extinguished with no injuries and work continuing shortly afterwards.

Power was later restored to the recycling and ingot casting area of the plant, with this area – alongside the cold mill and finishing area – operational in October.

Novelis first shared its revised timeline for the repairs process, with the hot mill restarting in 2025 rather than 2026, on October 23. In its latest update on November 11, it confirmed that it remains on track to restart the hot mill in December.

Industry impact

The sooner-than-expected date for the resumption of operations at the plant will likely be welcomed by OEMs that rely on Novelis for aluminium in North America. Ford, one of Novelis' biggest customers, announced in its Q3 2025 financial results that it expects the fire at Novelis' Oswego plant to equate to a headwind of up to $1 billion.

“The Ford team, including myself, have been onsite at the Novelis plant in Oswego, New York,” said Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford, on October 23. "We are working intensively with Novelis and others to source aluminium that can be processed in the cold rolling section of the plant that remains operational while also working to restore overall plant production. We have made substantial progress in a short time to minimise the impact in 2025 and recover production in 2026.”

In order to recover losses due to the fire and meet demand, Ford has said it will increase production of its F-150 and F-Series Super Duty models by more than 50,000 units in 2026. To achieve this, it will create up to 1,000 new jobs: 900 at its Fort Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan and 100 at its truck plant in Louisville, Kentucky.

Of these 50,000 units, 45,000 will be F-150 trucks – both ICE and hybrid – produced in Dearborn, while 5,000 will be Super Duty trucks produced in Louisville. Ford will invest $60 million in its Kentucky truck plant for training and other enablers to support the line speed increase.

Ford also announced that F-150 Lightning assembly at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center will remain paused, as the prioritises ICE and hybrid F-Series trucks, which it says are more profitable and use less aluminium. All of the hourly employees at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center will be transferred to the truck plant on the same complex to form part of the new 1,200-strong third crew that Ford will establish at the plant.

It's not just Ford that has been affected by the fire, it seems, with reports claiming that Stellantis had to halt production at its truck assembly plant in Warren, Michigan for at least three weeks following the incident. In a 2024 financial document, Novelis listed a number of its other customers in the automotive sector, including Toyota, GM and Hyundai, although reports say these OEMs are likely to face minimal impact on production as a result of their ability to source from other suppliers.

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Thinking outside the box for solutions

At the recent Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Mexico conference, Evelin Nava Castaldi, purchasing and supplier quality director at Stellantis Mexico, referenced a "crisis with aluminium". She explained how, when faced with an issue like this, OEMs should challenge their engineering departments to search for alternative solutions, such as replacing aluminium with steel. 

Although she acknowledged that in this instance, the lightweight nature of aluminium might make steel an inadequate replacement, she emphasised that challenging internal teams can be an effective strategy for finding out-of-the-box solutions to wider issues.