The aluminum can shortage, first reported on by Hard Seltzer News this August, is intensifying. Smaller brewers are being hit hardest as bigger companies buy up existing supplies.

Like everything from cleaning supplies and toilet paper to coins, the cause of the shortage can be attributed to the coronavirus pandemic; with the closures and restrictions surrounding restaurants and bars, the industry is experiencing a major shift in how and where people consume alcohol with more people staying in and drinking at home.

According to Bobby Vedder, a Certified Cicerone with Powers Distributing, “what happened during the lockdown is that everyone was drinking at home. The bars and restaurants were closed, so there’s no keg beer being sold and everybody went into full production on packaged beer.”

In addition to a dramatically changing market, the pandemic has also interrupted the supply of recycled aluminum. “Now, there’s none of this stuff getting smelted back down and recycled back in because everyone’s cans are in the garage,” said Vedder. The average aluminum beverage can contains about 70 percent recycled material.

As sales shifted from on premise to off-site (alcohol purchased at a grocery or liquor store to be enjoyed at home), demand for kegs dropped while aluminum can sales skyrocketed. At the same time, new canned beverages continue to hit the market regularly.

Hard seltzer and ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails are booming, which adds more stress to the existing aluminum supply; the segment grew by more than 200 percent in 2019 and have only increased since then.

While the shortage has been brewing for months, local breweries are now being hit hardest as they face longer waiting times and price increases. It has even kept some breweries from moving forward with planned releases.

“It prevented us from putting out a new can this winter that we really wanted to and spent a lot of time and resources to get to this point to be able to do, and we had to pull the plug at the last minute,” said Adam Benesch, CEO of Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore.

In light of the sharp increase in demand, supply has stayed relatively static. On September 2, Ball Corporation announced it is opening a new can plant in Pittston, PA, although it’s not expected to begin production until mid-2021 at the earliest. It is also building another new plant in Glendale, AZ, to open after that.   White Claw and Red Bull plants nearing completion in Glendale will consume most of that production.

The PA facility, located near Scranton, was chosen for its existing infrastructure and local labor base, as the new plant will create approximately 230 new jobs. As cans are in greater demand than paper in our increasingly online world, the location should prove to be a great fit.

The company is aware that it is producing a hot commodity. Ball CEO Daniel Fisher described the plant as ““Ball’s latest investment to serve accelerating demand for our portfolio of infinitely recyclable aluminum containers.”

As we head deeper into fall and winter and COVID-19 remains a concern, it is likely that people will continue playing it safe and drinking responsibly at home. In the meantime, should you have a bag of aluminum cans in the garage waiting to be recycled, now is a great time to find a facility and donate your cans to the cause.

Erin Grafton
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