US semi-finished aluminum manufacturer Kaiser Aluminum revised lower its full-year shipments guidance for its packaging and automotive products, reflecting customers' inventory management and a major outage at its Bellwood plant near Richmond, Virginia.
The Tennessee-based company now anticipates that growth in packaging sales volumes will be 5-10pc over 2025 levels, down from its prior outlook of 10-15pc, it said in its third-quarter earnings call on Thursday. For automotive shipments, Kaiser now forecasts steeper shipment declines of 5-10pc from 0-5pc previously.
The reduced packaging guidance comes after the company received requests to push out shipments from customers that are looking to control year-end inventory levels amid lower aluminum prices, Kaiser said. Seasonality also prompted buyers to move "orders to the right" with fourth-quarter demand for aluminum cans usually weaker coming off the peak consumption period in the April-September timeframe.
Kaiser continues to ramp up its new coating line for lid stock at its Warrick plant in Newburgh, Indiana, saying qualifications with customers are ongoing still. The company remains focused on improving the line's performance at higher run rates and improving its service to consumers.
Full-year automotive sales volumes will be lower than expected because of Bellwood, which Kaiser took down in the third quarter for equipment upgrades to expand production capacity of aluminum drive shafts. Bringing those assets back on line will persist through the fourth quarter, reflecting a more challenging ramp-up after "some impacts" from the outage that were a "little outside our control", the company said.
Kaiser maintained that the improvements at Bellwood will position it for growth opportunities, adding that the project was backed by long-term customer commitments. The company continued to tout its position on light truck and SUV platforms, for which demand "continues to remain resilient" in the face of headwinds in the broader automotive sector.
The company maintained its 2026 shipments outlooks for its aerospace/high strength and general engineering segments, describing strong demand for its aluminum plate and extrusion products from commercial airframers, defense contractors, data center developers and semiconductor manufacturers.
Third-quarter shipments in both units were up, supported by expanded production capacity at its Trentwood mill in Spokane Valley, Washington, and restocking from distributors.
Kaiser's third-quarter profit decreased by nearly 23pc to $31mn from the prior-year period, primarily reflecting higher one-time benefits in 2025. Revenues increased by 44pc to $1.2bn in the same period.
More prime, less scrap to end year
Kaiser's decision to delay maintenance work on multiple furnaces to the second half of the year weighed on its scrap usage during the third quarter — a trend the company expects to persist through year-end.
Cast house upgrades have necessitated the use of more "higher-cost forms of metal", prompting the company to assume a "lower scrap utilization" during the rest of the year.
The company added that scrap buying spreads tightened during July-September following a downturn in aluminum prices in the same period, noting that it expects to operate in that type of environment in the fourth quarter.
| Kaiser 3Q shipments | mn lbs | ||||
| Segment | 3Q 2026 | 3Q 2025 | ±% | 2Q 2026 | ±% |
| Aerospace/high-strength | 59.4 | 41.8 | 42% | 60.8 | -2.3% |
| Packaging | 153 | 144.1 | 6.2% | 155.8 | -1.8% |
| General Engineering | 67.4 | 63.4 | 6.3% | 67.7 | -0.4% |
| Automotive extrusions | 20.4 | 23.9 | -15% | 21.4 | -4.7% |
| Source: Kaiser Aluminum | |||||
