Primary Nonferrous Metals: Check the Benchmark Before Locking a Contract

Source identity correction: this page previously described copper and brass mill shapes. The stored BLS series is WPU1022, Primary Nonferrous Metals, covering the broad primary nonferrous metals commodity group. The historical readings and page address are preserved; the earlier narrower product interpretation was incorrect.

Primary Nonferrous Metals stands at 544.73 index (1982=100) in the latest archived observation, Aug 2026, up about 49.3% from a year ago. These are index points with a 1982=100 base, not dollars per pound or per tonne.

Separate a contract rule from a market forecast

The archived index is climbing, but its recent direction is not a forecast of a specific metal or supplier quote. Locking, floating or staging a purchase depends on the product, delivery dates, quoted premium and the purchaser's risk tolerance. Those terms are not observations in WPU1022; do not infer them from this chart.

Primary Nonferrous Metals, Aug 2026: 544.73. WPU1022; broad producer price index, 1982=100.

Make any index linkage explicit

If both parties choose WPU1022 for an escalation clause, specify the base period, comparison period, publication lag, revision treatment and share of the price that adjusts. Then the clause supplies the linkage; the source's broad product coverage does not imply it. Compare candidate benchmarks against the actual purchased specification before assuming this index is a suitable match.

Check the scope of any comparison

Use this series as broad producer-price context. It does not isolate aluminum, copper, brass, an alloy, a finished component or your supplier's invoice. A movement in the aggregate cannot identify which metal moved or separate raw-material, energy, labor and fabrication contributions. For a product-specific decision, obtain the corresponding product series and supplier pricing on the same units and dates.

Use your actual material price, quantity and an explicit change assumption to estimate cost sensitivity. Model a documented price scenario