Global aluminum rolling and recycling leader Novelis saw its full‑year shipments fall 5% and posted a net loss of $84 million in the first quarter of its fiscal 2026, as two severe fires at its Oswego, New York, plant disrupted production.

The Oswego facility suffered separate fires in September and November last year, damaging the hot mill and motor rooms. The extended downtime caused a roughly 73,000‑ton production gap in the January‑March quarter (Novelis’ fourth fiscal quarter), leading to the quarterly net loss. For the full year ended March 31, 2026, total rolled product shipments dropped 5% to 3.56 million tonnes, and net profit plunged to just $15 million due to billions of dollars in pre‑tax charges.

Novelis said it has made significant progress in repairing the damaged equipment. The hot mill is expected to restart in the coming weeks, ahead of earlier projections. The company expects insurance to cover 70‑80% of the total financial impact, which exceeds $1 billion.

The production halt forced Novelis to reallocate inventory from its global network to serve key customers in automotive (Ford, General Motors) and beverage packaging. Nevertheless, Ford warned earlier that the supply disruption hurt its own quarterly earnings.

Novelis has not yet disclosed a specific date for full capacity recovery, but the restart of the hot mill will mark a critical step toward normal operations.