Aluminum roller Novelis' facility in Greensboro, Georgia, was temporarily shut down following an explosion and subsequent fires over the weekend that damaged operations at a site that supports the beverage can industry.
The Georgia-based company did not provide details about how long the plant would be idled or the extent of the damange, telling Argus on Monday only that a blast occurred in a piece of equipment that led to a fire.
Greene Country Emergency Management director Joe Bashore noted that the explosion on Sunday "appeared to originate from a bag house" and caused "significant damage" to the closest building. Blazes broke out in both areas, while some aluminum scrap and a conveyor belt also caught fire, he added.
All 16 workers on Novelis' skeleton crew evacuated, and no injuries were reported.
Greensboro recycles and casts used beverage cans (UBC) and other grades of aluminum scrap into ingots, which Novelis then ships to its other facilities with rolling capabilities to produce sheet products for both beverage-can body and end stock.
Novelis does not expect the explosion to have a "significant impact" on the company's packaging customers, saying it would leverage its three casting operations in Kentucky — Berea, Guthrie and Russellville — and one in Oswego, New York, if needed.
Still, it remains to be seen to what degree the incident will exacerbate capacity challenges in the wider aluminum industry or will affect supply and demand of UBCs and 5182 scrap, which is used to make beverage-can ends.
Novelis already has been contending with production issues at Oswego after a series of fires in the fourth quarter took down that facility's hot-rolling mill and disrupted production of automotive sheet. Some rolling mills have shifted manufacturing lines away from other end markets, including beverage cans, to support Ford and other original equipment manufacturers.
