Ball lifts shipments 4.7% and expands beverage can capacity

By Tom Whitfield

Ball increased global aluminum packaging shipments 4.7% year over year in the third quarter. CFO Dan Rabbitt said year-to-date volumes rose 3.4% on Tuesday’s earnings call.

Demand remains notably strong in energy drinks and non-alcoholic beverages, Ball said. Rabbitt said inflation passthroughs in the company’s contracts have worked well. He also said commodity prices, which rose near the start of the war with Iran, are now dropping.

Can Ball add enough capacity?

Production capacity has been tight, and Ball aims to expand it through new facility investments. The company announced a new India facility in September and expects it to become operational in 2029. Ball detailed another German facility in Tuesday’s release.

Recently acquired plants in Hungary and Belgium have begun contributing to gains in Ball’s European business, the company said. Ball also added North American capacity when its new Millersburg, Oregon, facility became operational over the summer. The company expects the site to reach full capacity in 2027 and relieve regional constraints.

Millersburg startup costs reached $10 million in Q3, and Ball expects the total to reach $25 million in 2026. The spending accompanies a facility designed to ease Ball’s regional capacity constraints.

Why does Europe offer more room?

Europe is “a land of opportunity because can penetration is relatively low in that geography versus other geographies that we operate in, our customers are making significant filling investments,” said CEO Ron Lewis. “So there’s real physical evidence of the demand that’s required in order to build these plants.”

Lewis also called sustainability a real tailwind in Europe and said it continues unabated. For beverage brands, his filling-line evidence matters because Ball is committing capacity years ahead to serve those customers.

Ball is establishing the new Baruth, Germany, facility for one anchor tenant, an energy-drinks customer seeking long-term growth. Ball expects ramp-up in late 2028. Lewis said the company had used its customer-backed plant model several times worldwide.

How do customer commitments fund expansion?

Lewis said: “We invest when our customers ask us to invest on their behalf for their growth, and the way they ask us to do that is through long-term offtake agreements.” That structure ties Ball’s capital decisions to customer commitments and long-term volume visibility.

Ball recently appointed Carey Causey president of its beverage packaging business for North and Central America. Scott Vail was named his counterpart for Europe, Middle East and Africa. On future acquisitions, Lewis said Ball always looks for opportunities.

What does Ball expect through 2027?

Ball expects strong fourth-quarter growth even after volume rose 6% in the fourth quarter last year, Lewis said. He said strong growth in a sold-out position creates operational friction, making ramp-up execution more important as demand stays firm.

Ball remains on track to grow earnings per share by at least 10% in 2026, executives said. They project free cash flow totaling $900 million.

For 2027, Lewis said Ball remains well contracted. No significant contracts face renewal, and customer plans support the company’s 2-3% volume growth expectation.

Ball’s next test is execution: bring Baruth online in late 2028 and the India facility into operation in 2029, while managing friction in a sold-out position. For beverage buyers, those dates govern when Ball can add the can capacity needed to serve committed growth.