Aluminum shortage-due to virus

Aneeda72

Aneeda72

Well-known Member
I went to buy my favorite pop at my favorite store. They used to carry several brands, now they carry coke products. What’s up I asked. Aluminum shortage. I googled it, yup, there is a shortage. Happily, I found what I wanted at my neighborhood store, which was strange also. They rarely have diet soda.

But what I read said there will also be shortages for beer 😱😂. Doesn’t effect me, but imagine, stuck at home no beer, no pop, and the endless boredom. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Anyone else having issues?
 

I don't get it.

In 2017, the grocery store that I patronize ran out of store brand soda saying that aluminum was unavailable. Reason for unavailability not given. Meanwhile, name brands were well-stocked. That went on for two years. In 2019, store brands were plentiful again. Everything was good.

In 2020, enter the pandemic but soda availability was plentiful at first. But now just within the past three weeks, store brands are again unavailable. Unavailable aluminum is the reason given again. Again the name brands are well-stocked.

I had thought at first that this was just some ploy to raise prices but prices haven't risen throughout this fiasco.

Like I said, it doesn't compute.
 
In the 70's we had the "Energy Crisis." Long lines at the gas stations, checking to see if you were under half a tank, fights & shootings over places in line. They were just withholding supplies to raise prices. As soon as the price went over $1.00/gallon, we were swimming in gas.
 
The shortage may be because much of the aluminum comes from Canada and there were 10% US tariffs placed on it by the US government. It was posed because Canada was a national security threat. That’s a very old loophole.

For now the tariff is on hold, just as Canada was going to impose counter tarriffs.

Since this may be political, you can google the background yourself.
 
Well, mixing the two ideas of aluminum and toilet paper shortages - aluminum could conceivably be considered as reusable toilet paper in a pinch (no pun intended). :)

Tony
 
If an aluminum can shortage leads to decreased availability of things like soda pop and beer, that might be a good thing. People may actually find that drinking water and fruit juice is a lot heathier than their present habits....especially those who are "addicted" to diet soda.
 
Don M. said:
If an aluminum can shortage leads to decreased availability of things like soda pop and beer, that might be a good thing. People may actually find that drinking water and fruit juice is a lot heathier than their present habits....especially those who are "addicted" to diet soda.
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Fruit juice is a no for a diabetic. I drink a lot of water, but love an occasional diet soda.
 
I think we are still having a food shortage on some items. I asked our housekeeper if she would stop at the grocery store on her way here and pick up an item for me. They have been out of it for weeks. Before the pandemic, it was almost a staple and all of the grocery stores had plenty of the item.

Well, still no luck. She told me that the grocer told her that he doesn't expect to see any of the item until after the pandemic. He said that these food plants have lost a lot of employees because of the extra pay they receive from the government. I don't know how that works, but I need to look into it.

I saw on CNBC Business News on my phone this morning that Walmart has hired 500,000 new employees this year alone and that they do not think Christmas shopping will be like the past years. They believe that all of us consumers should order our gifts now, just to make sure that we get what we want. I started making my list just after I read the news.
 
The "Black Friday" shopping, this year, is also going to be far different than years past. We've already bought, or ordered, gifts for the small children, and will probably just exchange gift cards among the adults this Christmas.
 
Don M. said:
The "Black Friday" shopping, this year, is also going to be far different than years past. We've already bought, or ordered, gifts for the small children, and will probably just exchange gift cards among the adults this Christmas.
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Yes, that was also in the article. Walmart stated that "Black Friday" will mostly be non-existent and probably online, like most everything else. They expect a lot of curbside pickup and mailings of packages.
 
oldman said:
Yes, that was also in the article. Walmart stated that "Black Friday" will mostly be non-existent and probably online, like most everything else. They expect a lot of curbside pickup and mailings of packages.
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We will miss the fisticuffs over the big screen TVs. Taking bets on who walks out with the TV will no longer be a part of the Black Friday fun. Oh well. Another casualty of COVID-19.

Tony
 
Wonder if that would affect the price of other things like building materials ie ductwork, paint or related cleaning supply cans. Even alot of bikes made out of aluminum.
 
Sunny said:
Not to worry, tbeltrans, there are plenty of fisticuffs on TV these days!
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Unfortunately, this is an all too true statement. Something in our culture is truly broken, and it had its beginning farther back than the current administration. To me, a question to ponder is whether we collectively can (or want) to fix it.

Tony
 
This article https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...r-soda-coca-cola-pepsico-covid-19/5443308002/ suggests that the aluminum can shortage has been caused by the shift of getting soda and beer at restaurants and other places to having it at home. Since beer and soda served at restaurants and other places come in larger containers or come from syrups mixed at the time a soda is being dispensed those now have to be distributed in other containers (mainly aluminum cans) so the demand for them is higher causing a shortage.
 
asp3 said:
This article https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...r-soda-coca-cola-pepsico-covid-19/5443308002/ suggests that the aluminum can shortage has been caused by the shift of getting soda and beer at restaurants and other places to having it at home. Since beer and soda served at restaurants and other places come in larger containers or come from syrups mixed at the time a soda is being dispensed those now have to be distributed in other containers (mainly aluminum cans) so the demand for them is higher causing a shortage.
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Thanks for doing the legwork on this one!
 

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