Business and Economic News

Ball Corp. shutting down beverage can plant in St. Paul

The exterior of the Ball can plant with blue siding.
On Thursday, the Ball Corporation announced it will be shutting down its aluminum can plant that operates on St. Paul’s West Side.
Ben Hovland | MPR News

Ball Corp. announced Thursday that it plans to shut down its beverage can manufacturing plant on St. Paul's West Side.

The company said it expects to end operations in St. Paul by next spring, affecting about 110 workers.

Another Ball plant is closing in Phoenix, Ariz., and the construction of a new facility in Nevada is being delayed. The company said in a news release that the moves come amid "deceleration of customer demand resulting from significant retail pricing actions by customers to pass through inflationary costs to consumers, particularly in the U.S."

St. Paul’s aluminum can production will be moved to other plants owned by Colorado-based Ball, which employs more than 24,000 people worldwide.

The exact date of the St. Paul plant closure will be subject to customer needs. Ball said it will be negotiating with the plant's union to discuss the effects of the closure on employees.

Ball acquired the St. Paul plant — formerly owned by Rexam — in 2016. The large blue factory is located near the corner of Robert Street and Plato Boulevard. The company said the future of the property will be determined at a later date.

In 2018, the St. Paul Port Authority tweeted that the Ball plant produced 5.5 million cans a day — which adds up to about 2 billion cans a year.