At a Glance

  • Fluor confirmed to Construction Dive that its construction of Novelis's $5 billion aluminum recycling plant in Bay Minette, Alabama, is nearing completion.
  • The Irving, Texas-based contractor recently laid off 66 workers at the site, effective July 31, according to the Alabama Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) database. Companies are typically required to file WARN notices for layoffs of 50 or more workers at a single site.
  • Novelis stated that construction remains on schedule for completion later this year, with commissioning expected to begin by the end of 2026, according to a statement sent to Construction Dive.

Deep Dive

Novelis broke ground on the Bay Minette plant in 2022, according to a press release at the time. The project was then listed at $2.5 billion, and has since grown to $5 billion, according to company information.

Once operational, the plant will be the first fully integrated recycling and rolling mill in the U.S. in more than 40 years, with the capacity to produce 600,000 metric tons of finished aluminum products annually, according to Novelis.

Fluor is the project's engineering, procurement, and construction management services provider. Significant construction progress was made last year; for example, in the second quarter of 2025, workers installed the plant's hot mill housings during foundation and excavation work. At that time, there were about 1,000 workers on site, according to Novelis.

According to Novelis's fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 report, parts of the plant have already entered the commissioning phase. Novelis reported that commissioning of the cold mill began in Bay Minette in March.