Coca-Cola may switch to plastic bottles because of rising aluminum prices

If the cost of aluminum rises because of the duties imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, Coca-Cola may start producing more products in plastic bottles. This was reported by the British newspaper The Guardian on February 12.

The company warned that higher tariffs on imports of foreign-made steel and aluminum into the U.S. could lead to higher prices for beverages and canned goods. Coca-Cola CEO James Quincy said that the company buys aluminum for cans in Canada, and because of the duties will have to find ways to mitigate the rise in product prices. One option is to switch to producing beverages in plastic bottles.

"In terms of our affordability and consumer demand strategies, if one type of packaging suffers some increase in manufacturing costs, we will still have other container offerings that will allow us to compete in the affordability segment," Quincey said.

At the same time, the Coca-Cola CEO suggested that the US is exaggerating the impact that Trump's duties will have on the country's businesses. Quincy pointed out that packaging is only a small part of the overall cost structure.

Trump imposes duties against Canada, Mexico and China. What the media say

The day before, on February 11, Reuters reported that Trump raised tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum imports from 10% to 25% and removed various exemptions and duty waivers that were in place for the largest suppliers. In addition, on February 10, the U.S. president specified that tariffs would be raised on goods from those countries that had imposed restrictions on products from the United States.

The general director of the association of steel producers UK Steel Garrett Stace said at the same time that the decision of the American president to impose duties on imports of aluminum and steel from the UK will be a crushing blow to the steel sector of the kingdom.

European Commission (EC) head Ursula von der Leyen said on the same day that the European Union (EU) would take tough measures in response to the US tariff hike. The politician called Trump's decision unfair and added that Europe was going to fight for its economic interests.

Polish MEP and former European Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski said at the same time that the EU had learned to live with Trump and was ready to conduct a trade confrontation with him, while the new US leader had never won such "tariff battles" before.