Another Fire Ignites at Ford Aluminum Supplier Novelis in New York

Another fire ignited on Thursday at Novelis’ aluminum plant in Oswego, New York, that supplies Ford’s lucrative F-150 truck line, about two months after a blaze halted much of the facility’s production.

Ford in October cut its profit forecast, citing a gross hit of up to $2 billion from the incident. The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker expects to offset about $1 billion of that next year by increasing production at certain truck plants, it said in October.

While Novelis also supplies other automakers, Ford is a major consumer because its trucks use a largely aluminum body. The automaker indefinitely paused production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup in Michigan after the September fire, and output of its gas-powered trucks has also been disrupted.

The Oswego plant also had a small fire in October.

Novelis in October said it planned to restart operations at the affected part of the plant by the end of December, an acceleration from its previous projection of resuming by the first quarter of 2026. A Novelis spokesperson said it was too soon to say if Thursday’s fire would delay that timeline.

“A fire started at Novelis’ Oswego, New York, plant this morning. Everyone working at the plant was safely evacuated. Multiple local fire departments responded, and the fire is now under control. Crews are still on site to ensure it is fully extinguished,” the spokesperson said.

Ford did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Nora Eckert in Detroit, additional reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Rod Nickel)