Ball Corp plans to add new production lines at its Georgia and Texas plants in H2 2020, to increase the availability of aluminum cans for beverages.
The company, which reported better revenue and sales for its North American business in Q2 2020, indicated that its capital expenditure would likely increase to more than $900mn during the year and its consolidated earnings would also rise by the end of 2020.
The company also plans to benefit from the addition of multiple beverage can production lines across its European lines, where demand softness was partially offset by a significant rise in at-home beverage consumption in the UK and Russia during the COVID-19 related lockdowns.
In South America, the company will look to add more production lines to its Brazil operations by mid-2021.
In H1 2020, Ball reported consolidated sales of $5.6bn, slightly down from $5.8bn reported during the same period last year.
The company’s North and Central American beverage packaging business sales during the first six months of the year remained unchanged from H1 2019 at $2.4bn, while its European business segment reported sales of $1.4bn compared with $1.5bn achieved during the same period under comparison. Sales in South America in the six months ended June 30, 2020, fell to $734mn from $818mn in H1 2019.
In Q2 2020, Ball’s sales saw a small uptick across most of its businesses, owing to softer demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s consolidated sales fell slightly during the quarter to $2.8bn from $3bn during the same three months last year.
The company’s North and Central America sales were flat at $1.3bn during the same quarters under comparison, while sales in its European market fell to $699mn in the second qurater from $768mn during the same quarter last year. Sales in the company’s South American business also fell to $329mn last quarter from $377mn in Q2 2019.
Ball’s consolidated net earnings were reported at $117mn in H1 2020 down from $314mn during the first six months of 2019. In Q2 2020, the company’s net earnings fell to $94mn from $197mn during the same quarter last year.