US brewers and beverage makers fear shortage of cans

USA | As consumers have hunkered down in their homes, reduced their shopping trips and stocked up on large packs of 12-ounce cans of trusted beer brands, demand for cans has shot through the roof.

So much so, said Molson Coors’ website on 14 May 2020, that the entire beverage industry – brewers, soda and water makers – is facing an unprecedented shortage of 12-ounce (355 ml) recyclable aluminium cans.

The company has ordered and acquired millions more cans in recent months than originally planned, turning to source some from other parts of the world. Besides, it has ramped up in-house production of cans, by keeping its can manufacturing lines in Golden, Colorado, operating continuously. And it has suspended production of slower-moving products packaged in 12-ounce cans to focus on faster-moving brands.

Molson Coors reported that it sells about 11.5 billion cans, on average, every year. So even a 5 percent swing is material. When demand goes up by 30 percent over a two-month period, this means hundreds of millions of cans extra. There is no way suppliers can meet that, and it is affecting the whole beverage industry.

Indeed, for the industry, the exploding demand for cans was wholly unanticipated.