Aluminum shortage leads to pause in Arizona license plate production

PHOENIX — A worldwide aluminum shortage has led to a temporary interruption in the state’s license plate production, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Arizona Correctional Industries, which produces license places for the state’s Motor Vehicle Division, did not receive a scheduled delivery of aluminum and has none in stock for production.

MVD has turned to another vendor, Intellectual Technology, Inc., on an interim basis.

“We regret that customers will experience this delay,” MVD Director Eric Jorgensen said in a press release. “When we learned that our primary vendor didn’t receive the aluminum it was expecting, MVD immediately implemented its backup plan with ITI, a vendor we’ve worked with before, to ensure that plate production could begin as quickly as possible.”

The vehicle services agency will continue to process and issue license plate numbers for vehicles during the service interruption.

Customers who submitted proper information prior to a vehicle’s temporary permit expiration will see their vehicle show up as valid in the MVD system, according to the release.

Those who ordered plates after May 21 are expected to start receiving specialty plates this week.

Standard plates should start arriving next week from the ADOT fulfillment site.

After normal production resumes, customers will notice a new font used for plates.

MVD had been considering switching the font but previously held off due to production being interrupted.

Two other states and other industries have been affected by the aluminum shortage, according to the release.

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