Market Data
Foundry and Forge Shop Products PPI: What the Index Measures
Foundry and Forge Shop Products, up about 3.7% from a year ago. This series covers foundry and forge shop products. It is broader than iron and steel castings and must not be presented as a casting-only production or cost measure.
The BLS Foundry and Forge Shop Products Producer Price Index (WPU1015) reads 296.49 index (1982=100) for Aug 2026, up about 3.7% from a year ago. The reference period identifies the observation; a later website refresh does not turn it into a daily price. This is a producer price index, not a delivered quote in dollars per unit.
This series covers foundry and forge shop products. It is broader than iron and steel castings and must not be presented as a casting-only production or cost measure.
Read the definition before the number
Match alloy, process, weight, tooling, machining allowance and acceptance requirements to the part being quoted. The observed product price includes more than metal input cost; a supplier's conversion cost needs its own evidence.
An index describes price movement for its specified basket. It does not say that every product or every supplier moved by the same amount. Distribution, customer mix and the terms of an individual transaction can produce a different invoice result. Keep the agency identifier beside the label so a similar-sounding category is not silently substituted.
Index points and percentage changes
For two observations from the same series, the percentage change is 100 × (new index / old index − 1). A rise from 200 to 210 is 5%, not 10%. Different PPIs can have different bases and product baskets; subtracting their raw levels does not yield a dollar premium.
A difference between this PPI's growth rate and a steel mill PPI's growth rate does not isolate labor, energy, foundry margins or a fabrication premium. Their product baskets differ, and neither is a supplier's cost ledger.
Source and update notes
The source is BLS series WPU1015, also published by FRED at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WPU1015. The linked data page provides the current observation and available history. A successful refresh changes readings only when the source returns changed data. Missing or failed observations must retain their original periods and be reported as unavailable or delayed.
Published 2026-07-13.