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FeatureMetal inputs

Commercial Outdoor Furniture

Metal inputs, producer prices

October 26, 2026. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics through September 2026.*

Steel prices fell 41.8% from their 2021 peak to January 2025 while institutional furniture prices rose 21.0%

From December 2021 to January 2025, steel mill prices fell 41.8% and institutional furniture prices rose 21.0%. Steel has since risen 48.6%.

Steel mill products
−41.8%December 2021 to January 2025
Institutional furniture
+21.0%Same 37 months
January 2025 to September 2026*
+48.6% steel +50.0% aluminum +11.4% furniture

Furniture rose with the metals in 2021 and kept rising while steel fell

Producer price indexes, January 2019 = 100, not seasonally adjusted, monthly

7512515017520010020192020202120222023202420252026DECEMBER 2021 TO JANUARY 2025Steel −41.8%Furniture +21.0%Aluminum184.1, +84.1%Steel176.0, +76.0%Furniture161.7, +61.7% 751251501752001002019202120232025DEC 2021 TO JAN 2025Aluminum184.1, +84.1%Steel176.0, +76.0%Furniture161.7, +61.7%
Producer price indexes for aluminum mill shapes (WPU102501), steel mill products (WPU1017) and institutional furniture manufacturing (PCU337127337127), each rebased so that January 2019 = 100. Monthly, January 2019 to September 2026, not seasonally adjusted. The shaded span runs from the steel record of December 2021 to the steel low of January 2025. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED. Download the rebased data (CSV).

Steel mill prices fell 41.8% from their record in December 2021 to January 2025, according to the producer price index (PPI) that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes for steel mill products. Over the same 37 months, the PPI for institutional furniture manufacturing, an industry whose products include restaurant and bar furniture, rose 21.0%. A producer price index tracks the prices domestic makers receive for what they sell.

Since January 2025 the metals have turned up again: steel rose 48.6% and aluminum mill shapes 50.0% through September 2026, while institutional furniture rose 11.4%. The September figures are preliminary.

Aluminum and steel are common frame metals in commercial outdoor seating and tables. This article follows both against the furniture index from January 2019 to September 2026.

I.

Steel peaked at 449.711 in December 2021 and aluminum at 394.359 in June 2026

The two metals moved on different schedules. Steel mill products more than doubled from January 2019 to December 2021, up 103.7% to 449.711, the highest value in a series that starts in 1939. Aluminum rose 21.3% over the same span. Steel then declined over the next three years, to 261.563 in January 2025, while aluminum ended that stretch 1.2% above where it began it.

Steel fell from 449.711 to 261.563, then rose to 388.580 by September

Producer price indexes, 1982 = 100, not seasonally adjusted, monthly

PRELIMINARY*20025030035040045020192020202120222023202420252026Steel record, December 2021449.711, highest since 1939Aluminum record, June 2026*394.359, highest since 1947Steel, January 2025: 261.563Steel388.580Aluminum370.480 PRELIMINARY*2002503003504004502019202120232025Steel recordDec 2021, 449.711Aluminum record*Jun 2026, 394.359Jan 2025, 261.563Steel388.580Aluminum370.480
Producer price indexes for aluminum mill shapes (WPU102501) and steel mill products (WPU1017), index 1982=100, not seasonally adjusted, monthly, January 2019 to September 2026. Both indexes share a base, so their levels can be compared directly. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED, WPU1017 and WPU102501.

Aluminum's rise came later. The aluminum mill shapes index reached 394.359 in June 2026, the highest value since the series begins in 1947. It has eased since, to 370.480 in September, 6.1% below that June value and 25.2% above September 2025. Steel rose 8.0% from June to September 2026, to 388.580, and is 27.6% above a year earlier. Both indexes have a base of 1982=100, so their levels can be compared directly.

II.

The furniture index fell in 11 of the 92 months since January 2019

The furniture index has a base of December 2003=100, so the chart at the top of this page sets all three series to 100 in January 2019 to put their changes on one scale. Over the whole period, aluminum mill shapes rose 84.1%, steel mill products 76.0% and institutional furniture 61.7%.

Steel moved up and down by several percent a month; furniture rose in small steps

Change from the previous month, percent, both panels on one scale

STEEL MILL PRODUCTS−10%+10%+20%0INSTITUTIONAL FURNITURE−10%+10%+20%0The index fell in 11 of the 92 months,each marked along the bottom20192020202120222023202420252026 STEEL MILL PRODUCTS−10%+10%+20%0INSTITUTIONAL FURNITURE−10%+10%+20%0Fell in 11 of 92 months2019202120232025
Month-to-month percentage change in the producer price indexes for steel mill products (WPU1017) and institutional furniture manufacturing (PCU337127337127), February 2019 to September 2026, not seasonally adjusted, calculated from the index values in the table below. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED.

The furniture index moved in one direction more than the metals did. It fell in 11 of the 92 months since January 2019, and in every month from January 2020 on it stood above its level a year earlier. When steel dropped 41.8% between December 2021 and January 2025, the furniture index rose 21.0%.

Metal is one input among many in a finished chair or table.

Labor, finishing, cushions, packaging and freight sit in the price too, and the index measures the finished product.

III.

Since January 2025, aluminum rose 50.0% and steel 48.6%, against 11.4% for furniture

From January 2025 to September 2026, aluminum rose 50.0% and steel 48.6%, more than four times the 11.4% rise in the furniture index. In the year to September 2026, the furniture index rose 5.8%.

Steel more than doubled to 2021, then fell 41.8% while furniture kept rising

Percentage change in each index over four periods, one scale for all bars

−40%0+40%+80%January 2019 to December 2021Aluminum+21.3%Steel+103.7%Furniture+19.9%December 2021 to January 2025Aluminum+1.2%Steel−41.8%Furniture+21.0%January 2025 to September 2026Aluminum+50.0%Steel+48.6%Furniture+11.4%January 2019 to September 2026Aluminum+84.1%Steel+76.0%Furniture+61.7% −40%0+40%+80%January 2019 to December 2021Aluminum+21.3%Steel+103.7%Furniture+19.9%December 2021 to January 2025Aluminum+1.2%Steel−41.8%Furniture+21.0%January 2025 to September 2026Aluminum+50.0%Steel+48.6%Furniture+11.4%January 2019 to September 2026Aluminum+84.1%Steel+76.0%Furniture+61.7%
Change in the producer price indexes for aluminum mill shapes, steel mill products and institutional furniture manufacturing over three periods set by the steel record of December 2021 and the steel low of January 2025, and over the whole span. Not seasonally adjusted. September 2026 is preliminary. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED. Download (CSV).

Other frame and slat materials have moved less. The BLS index for thermoplastic resins and plastics materials, the family that includes the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) used in plastic lumber furniture, was 278.148 in September 2026, 18.3% below its August 2021 high. The lumber index was 282.340, 38.9% below its May 2021 high. The materials guide compares how each material holds up outdoors.

Resins sit 18.3% and lumber 38.9% below their 2021 highs

Index, 1982=100September 2026*Below its 2021 high
Thermoplastic resins and plastics materialsHigh: August 2021278.148−18.3%
LumberHigh: May 2021282.340−38.9%
Producer price indexes for thermoplastic resins and plastics materials (WPU0662) and lumber (WPU081), not seasonally adjusted. Bars run from zero on one scale. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED.

IV.

What this means for an order with a metal surcharge

Some makers add a surcharge or an escalation clause, a contract term that moves the price with an index, to orders of metal furniture. Two terms can produce different totals from the same months of data. The example below uses round numbers, a $100,000 order quoted in January 2025 and repriced in September 2026.

In the example, a metal-share term adds $12,500 to a $100,000 order

Pricing termOrder valueOrder value drawn from zero
Order as quoted in January 2025$100,000
Whole order adjusted by the institutional furniture index (up about 11%)$111,000
Metal quarter of the order adjusted by the aluminum index (up about 50%)$112,500
Example in round numbers: one order repriced under two kinds of pricing term, January 2025 to September 2026. Not a quote. The 25% metal share is an assumption for the example. Index changes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED.

A term that applies a metal index to only the metal share of the order added $12,500 here, more than a term that applies the furniture index to the whole order.

Before you sign, ask the vendor which BLS series a surcharge or escalation clause uses, what share of the price it applies to, and which month's value sets the base.

Then pull the series from FRED and check the change the invoice claims. A clause that names a series ID, such as WPU102501, can be checked to three decimal places. Ask too whether the clause lets the price fall when the index falls, since steel fell 41.8% in the three years after December 2021.

Tariffs are a separate line on the cost. Metal-frame outdoor seats and tables were removed from the Section 232 steel and aluminum duties in April 2026, as the tariffs guide explains, so the additional duty on an imported metal-frame chair turns on the Section 301 actions that apply to its country of origin.

V.

Every month from January 2019 to September 2026

Newest first. Aluminum mill shapes and steel mill products have a base of 1982=100. The furniture index, institutional furniture manufacturing, has a base of December 2003=100, so use it for percentage changes. Rows marked with an asterisk are preliminary. Download the data (CSV).

Producer price indexes for aluminum mill shapes and steel mill products (1982=100) and institutional furniture manufacturing (December 2003=100), monthly, not seasonally adjusted
MonthAluminumSteelFurniture
September 2026*370.480388.580238.640
August 2026*370.931380.348236.921
July 2026*388.092374.462236.948
June 2026*394.359359.958236.827
May 2026385.055349.997234.409
April 2026367.769341.570233.831
March 2026353.170331.357232.601
February 2026349.365325.105232.567
January 2026328.673315.369231.191
December 2025320.588312.410228.643
November 2025311.964291.556229.716
October 2025301.541300.665229.072
September 2025295.898304.579225.629
August 2025291.259308.772225.527
July 2025276.100305.538225.224
June 2025256.714309.231222.929
May 2025257.072326.743222.332
April 2025266.680303.829221.772
March 2025262.064287.362215.894
February 2025249.608268.865215.370
January 2025246.908261.563214.154
December 2024246.625266.511213.357
November 2024244.677278.339213.404
October 2024238.838273.422211.678
September 2024235.145270.970212.200
August 2024237.123275.280212.098
July 2024242.445283.090211.836
June 2024241.058293.269212.071
May 2024235.599298.564211.775
April 2024225.667297.573211.562
March 2024224.413305.677212.532
February 2024225.517332.520212.422
January 2024225.148321.392212.186
December 2023226.844305.125212.409
November 2023227.576297.967211.101
October 2023227.860304.112209.016
September 2023228.798311.522208.712
August 2023230.918322.940207.539
July 2023231.722329.450207.560
June 2023234.678345.801206.914
May 2023236.986347.224206.874
April 2023235.988329.705206.531
March 2023240.372318.190205.709
February 2023240.325315.255205.470
January 2023236.333308.022204.378
December 2022231.131315.630204.131
November 2022228.166326.698203.631
October 2022231.681337.206199.997
September 2022238.823357.587199.830
August 2022242.087384.885199.695
July 2022250.971404.112198.579
June 2022262.278420.183196.164
May 2022278.597427.400192.736
April 2022287.613386.663190.350
March 2022278.240376.596187.439
February 2022271.422400.067181.365
January 2022253.817441.497179.729
December 2021244.037449.711177.036
November 2021258.862448.746173.940
October 2021253.771435.669171.605
September 2021243.212418.472170.590
August 2021235.604399.074167.583
July 2021226.843380.189167.404
June 2021226.000343.400164.600
May 2021218.400321.800162.700
April 2021211.000310.200160.800
March 2021200.300266.400160.600
February 2021196.400228.800159.700
January 2021193.500208.000158.900
December 2020188.400197.200156.500
November 2020182.400184.800156.300
October 2020181.800180.500155.900
September 2020182.400177.700155.800
August 2020175.800177.600155.700
July 2020172.000180.800155.800
June 2020169.400181.500155.800
May 2020171.100182.600155.700
April 2020177.900187.400156.100
March 2020185.700188.700155.800
February 2020187.900187.400155.300
January 2020192.300187.300154.800
December 2019191.700187.400152.700
November 2019191.400190.200152.700
October 2019193.700194.700152.600
September 2019194.200196.900152.300
August 2019195.300198.100151.900
July 2019198.400200.900151.100
June 2019198.800206.300151.300
May 2019200.600210.400150.900
April 2019202.500212.100149.400
March 2019201.400215.600149.300
February 2019201.000215.300148.900
January 2019201.200220.800147.600