Ford Motor Company believes Oswego’s Novelis aluminum plant will be back up and running about halfway through 2026, as the company rebuilds from two major fires that destroyed a key part of its factory.
On a conference call with industry analysts and reporters Tuesday to announce its 2025 financial results, Ford officials said that they expected the Oswego plant to be back in operation sometime between May and September.
The town of Scriba factory was in the midst of rebuilding from the first fire and was said to be ahead of schedule to begin production again when the second fire occurred. No official cause of either fire has been disclosed.
In the aftermath of that second fire, Novelis shook up the senior management at the plant, saying that the plant manager and several top managers left by mutual arrangement. Novelis recently won approval from Oswego County’s economic development agency to not have to pay sales taxes on nearly $190 million in equipment and supplies needed to get the plant back into production.
Ford lost sales but coped, as Novelis brought in aluminum from its other plants and from competitors. The fire cost Ford $2 billion in 2025 and an unexpected $1 billion increase in import taxes was due in part to aluminum supplies from overseas.
Ford Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra said on the conference call that “we have contingency plans to secure sufficient supplies…no matter where we end up with a start date between May and September.”
Novelis will release its earnings report Wednesday morning.
