Construction Material Prices: Latest PPI and What to Bid

Short answer: Construction material prices rose 2.3% from August to September 2026 and 11.2% over 12 months. That is the producer price index (PPI) for goods used in nonresidential construction.

Metals and diesel drove the rise. Over the year, steel mill products rose 27.6%, copper wire and cable 30.8%, and diesel fuel 115.2%. Ready-mix concrete rose 2.3% and gypsum products 1.4%. So escalate each trade by its own index, not one blanket percent.

Latest release: September 2026 data, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday, October 15, 2026 (PPI news release).

Next release: October 2026 data, scheduled for Friday, November 13, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. ET (BLS release schedule). This page changes with each release.

How much construction material prices changed in September 2026

The table gives each index level from the BLS series named in its row. We computed the 1-month and 12-month changes from those levels. All the series are not seasonally adjusted. BLS marks recent months preliminary and revises each index for up to four months after first publishing it.

Each index has its own base period, so compare a row only with itself over time, never one row's level with another's.

What drove the September 2026 rise

Energy and metals drove the September 2026 rise. Strip foods and energy out of the nonresidential goods index and its 12-month rise falls from 11.2% to 5.9%. BLS reported that final demand energy prices jumped 10.8% in September and that diesel fuel prices rose (PPI news release).

The two contractor associations read the release the same way. The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported that inputs to new nonresidential construction rose 11.9% over the year, the most in four years (AGC). Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) put nonresidential input prices up 2.3% for the month and 11.2% for the year (ABC). ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu said:

"While higher fuel prices brought about by the conflict in Iran have driven a substantial portion of the increase, prices for tariffed materials like iron, copper and other metal products continue to rise rapidly."

One gap matters for steel packages. Steel mill products rose 27.6% over the year, but fabricated structural metal rose 7.4%. A fabricator's quote may still rest on mill prices from months ago. Ask the steel sub when its mill quote is dated and how long the price holds.

How steel and aluminum tariffs affect subcontractor bids

Imported steel and aluminum pay a 50% Section 232 duty, charged on the full value of the product. Proclamation 11021 made that change for goods entered from April 6, 2026. The duty now applies "to the full customs value of the imported product, regardless of metal content" (91 FR 18201).

The same proclamation sets the rates by list:

• 50% on all aluminum and steel articles, most copper articles, and the derivative products in its Annex I-A.
• 25% on certain copper articles and the steel and aluminum derivatives in its Annex I-B.
• 10% on derivatives made from U.S. metal: steel melted and poured, or aluminum or copper smelted and cast, in the United States.
• 15% total duty on the fixed industrial machinery and power equipment in its Annex III, through 2027.
• Lower rates for some products of the United Kingdom.

A June 2026 proclamation moved products between those lists, added a 25% list (Annex I-C), and added steel racks (91 FR 34085). It also lowered the U.S.-metal test for the 10% rate to 85% of the metal by weight.

Two more rules shape a sub's quote. A February 2025 proclamation ended the product exclusion process "effective immediately" (90 FR 9817). So a supplier cannot apply for a new exclusion.

Commerce can also add derivative products at any time. In August 2026, its Bureau of Industry and Security proposed 14 more, including certain electric conductor cables and parts of heat exchange units (91 FR 50756). As of October 19, 2026, the Federal Register shows no final notice adding them.

For you, the full-value rule matters most on fabricated imports. When an imported assembly is on a derivative list, the duty now covers its labor and other parts too. Ask each metals, glazing, and electrical sub whether any material is imported and which duty rate its supplier priced.

What to check in a subcontractor's bid

Check five terms in every metals, glazing, electrical, and sitework bid before you level it. Each one decides who pays if prices move after bid day.

1. Price hold period. Find the line that says how long the price stands, such as "pricing valid for 30 days". Compare it with your award date, not your bid date.
2. Escalation clause. Find any right to reprice on material increases. Note the index it names, the base month, and any cap.
3. Material quote date. Ask for the date of the mill, supplier, or distributor quote behind the number. A quote dated before a price jump may not hold.
4. Tariff language. Look for "excludes tariffs", "subject to duties in effect at shipment", or similar. That line moves tariff risk back to you.
5. Origin of the material. Ask whether steel, aluminum, or copper is domestic or imported. Imported metal carries the duty in effect when it enters the country.

Treat any of these lines as a qualification that changes the price. A low bid with a 15-day price hold and a tariff exclusion may cost more than the next bid with neither. Price the difference with a plug so you compare every bidder on the same terms, as in how to compare subcontractor bids.

In Consight, each bid's clarifications, assumptions, and conditions land on its Qualifications tab, next to the bidder's price. You can then add a labeled plug for an excluded cost.

How a general contractor can carry price and tariff risk

You can carry material price risk in five ways. Each one sets who pays when prices move after award.

The ConsensusDocs 200.1 amendment is a standard form for the first approach. It "lists the specific materials affected in a particular project and adjusts the contract price based upon a certain metric, usually an agreed-upon objective market index" (ConsensusDocs). Flow the same terms down to the subs, or you hold the gap between the owner's clause and theirs.

How to use these numbers in a bid

Use the index that matches the trade, and escalate each package from its quote date to the midpoint of construction. The U.S. General Services Administration says its estimates should carry escalation "all the way up to the midpoint of construction" (GSA).

Here is the arithmetic for a steel package. A steel sub quotes $2,000,000 in October 2026. Construction runs 14 months, from February 2027 through March 2028, so the midpoint is September 2027. That is 11 months after the quote. You choose the annual rate; this page does not forecast one. At a 6% annual rate, the factor is 1.06 raised to the power 11/12, or 1.0549. The escalation is about $109,700.

Three rules keep the numbers honest:

• Escalate only the material share. The index tracks producer prices, not the sub's labor, markup, or freight. Apply it to the material portion of the quote.
• Name the series ID in any clause. Write "WPU1017, not seasonally adjusted", and say whether you use the first-published or the revised value.
• Expect revisions. BLS revises each index for up to four months, so a month's value can change after you use it.

For more on what subs leave out of a price, see common exclusions in subcontractor bids.