Data Desk
Primary Nonferrous Metals: Read the Index History Within Its Product Scope
This series was previously labeled as copper mill shapes. The corrected source identity preserves the history while changing what can be claimed about copper purchases.
BLS WPU1022, Primary Nonferrous Metals, reads 544.73index (1982=100) as of Aug 2026. This page previously called the stored index copper and copper-alloy mill shapes and presented its rise as a doubling of copper-product prices. That product identification was incorrect. The series covers a broader primary-metals population; its observations do not establish what happened to a particular copper wire, strip or busbar invoice.
What the archived readings say
Across the retained 37-year history, the index ranges from 92.40 in November 1993 to 587.67 in June 2026. The latest reading is 5.9 times the archived low. These statements describe the recorded index and its retained window. They do not identify the cause of its movement, prove a permanent change, or turn an index-point observation into a price for a particular finished product.
Primary Nonferrous Metals PPI, Aug 2026: 544.73index (1982=100). An aggregate producer-price index for the source population named by BLS WPU1022.
The distinct global copper benchmark is $13,543/tonne as of Jul 2026. Its monetary unit and copper-specific scope differ from WPU1022. A difference between their rates of change is not an estimate of copper fabrication cost, wages, freight or tariff effects. Product-level observations with matched dates and specifications are needed to measure those components.
Indexation is an explicit scenario
A budget indexed to WPU1022 requires an explicit base period and a contract or scenario that deliberately adopts this broad index. It should not be assumed to match copper invoices.
Use the source that matches the purchase
Check that a proposed escalator names the intended source ID and product population. Compare current and prior invoices for the same specification, quantity and delivery basis before changing a copper cost standard. Keep the price effect separate from volume and product mix, and use a copper-specific benchmark only for the portion of the purchase that the contract actually links to it.
Use matched purchase prices and quantities to calculate an actual variance; do not substitute a broad PPI for an invoice. Check your price variance
Published 2026-08-18.