US shipments of food and general line cans fell 3.2% year on year in the third quarter of 2026, from 7.96 billion to 7.70 billion, according to the latest figures from The Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI)

The biggest fall was in soups and miscellaneous foods, where shipments dropped 16.0% to 849.9 million cans, from 1.01 billion. It was the third quarterly fall in a row for the category, which was down 0.3% in the first quarter and 11.4% in the second.

Food can shipments as a whole fell 3.9% to 6.92 billion. Pet food cans fell 3.4% to 2.16 billion, after growth of 7.4% and 5.8% in the first two quarters. Fruit cans were down 5.2% to 368.8 million, and the “all other foods” category, which includes baby food, dairy, juices, meat, poultry and seafood, fell 19.4% to 609.4 million.

Vegetable cans went the other way. The seasonal pack pushed them up 4.5% to 2.91 billion, making them the largest food category for the quarter. By process, two-piece food can shipments fell 4.9% to 5.17 billion. Three-piece cans were almost flat, down 0.8% at 1.75 billion.

General packaging returns to growth

General packaging shipments rose 3.0% to 776.9 million, the first quarterly increase this year. Aerosol cans, which include steel and aluminium aerosols, were up 2.2% to 641.5 million, after falls of 14.2% and 8.6% in the first and second quarters. Other non-food cans, which cover paint, varnish and automotive products, rose 6.6% to 135.4 million.

Year to date

Over the first nine months of 2026, food and general line shipments are down 3.0% at 20.09 billion. Pet food is still the largest category, up 3.3% at 7.00 billion. Soups and miscellaneous foods are down 9.2%, and aerosols down 7.1%.

The figures follow Silgan’s third-quarter results on 29 October. Silgan reported 4% lower metal container volumes as weaker soup demand outweighed growth in fruit, vegetable and pet food cans. On the earnings call, CEO Adam Greenlee said “soup was something that we had not anticipated”.

CMI’s report draws on 11 participants, including Crown, Silgan, Sonoco, Trivium, Mauser Packaging Solutions and Envases. CMI estimates they account for about 90% of the US food and general line market.