Dive Brief:
- Fluor is nearing construction completion on Novelis’ $5 billion aluminum recycling plant in Bay Minette, Alabama, the company confirmed in a statement to Construction Dive.
- The Irving, Texas-based contractor recently laid off 66 employees on the site, effective July 31, according to Alabama’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification database. Companies generally must file WARN notices for layoffs of 50 or more workers at a single site.
- Novelis said construction remains on track to wrap later this year and expects to begin commissioning before the end of 2026, according to a statement sent to Construction Dive.
Dive Insight:
Novelis broke ground on the Bay Minette facility in 2022, according to a news release at the time. The project price tag, then listed at $2.5 billion, has since increased to $5 billion, according to the company.
Once complete, the Novelis facility will be the first fully integrated recycling and rolling plant in the U.S. in more than 40 years, according to the company. The plant will have the capacity to produce 600,000 metric tons of finished aluminum goods.
Fluor, which is providing engineering, procurement and construction management services on the project, made major strides during construction last year. In the second quarter of 2025, for example, crews installed the plant’s hot mill housings during foundation and excavation work. About 1,000 workers were working on site at the time, according to Novelis.
Portions of the facility have since moved into commissioning, according to the Novelis’ fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2026 report. Novelis reported it began commissioning the cold mill in Bay Minette in March.
