Dearborn Truck Assembly could see layoffs after New York aluminum plant fire

Ford production may be hurt by New York aluminum plant fire

The factory makes automotive grade aluminum for automakers across the country. One of its biggest clients is Ford. It could mean temporary layoffs at the Dearborn Truck Assembly where they build the F-150. One source told FOX 2 that workers here should brace for work stoppage as soon as next week.

(FOX 2) - It's been nearly one month since a massive fire broke out at a factory in New York. 

That factory makes automotive grade aluminum for automakers across the country. One of its biggest clients is Ford.

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It could mean temporary layoffs at the Dearborn Truck Assembly where they build the F-150. One source told FOX 2 that workers should brace for a work stoppage as soon as next week.

This was all due to a massive fire in Oswego, New York, at a Novelis aluminum plant. This was back on Sept. 16. Everyone got out, but it burned for 20 hours, destroying a factory that essentially supplies 36% of all the aluminum used to build cars and trucks, a major supplier to Ford in particular.

That aluminum is used in the manufacturing of the F-150 pickup, which is a top seller for Ford. According to auto experts, disruptions to the supply chain happen from time to time, but one of this scale is hard to plan for and extremely costly.

"Analysts are projecting the impact on Ford can be anywhere from 500 million to 1 billion dollars. Where is that coming from? Lost sales. But also, where do they get the aluminum from and the capacity in the US is almost full. There are very few places you can go to get automotive grade aluminum. So you have to go offshore to other countries and when you do that you are hit with a 50% tariff," said Jan Griffiths.

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As for when the factory in New York will be up and running? 

Some reports say, due to the damage caused by the fire, it would be the first quarter of 2026 at the earliest. Of course, Ford isn't the only one feeling the heat from all this.