7 Numbers That Show How Inflation is Squeezing Sheet Metal Contractors

But those broad increases obscure much larger swings underneath the headline number. Aluminum mill shapes were up more than 40%, steel mill products more than 20% and copper and brass mill shapes more than 18%.

Here are seven numbers that help explain what the latest construction inflation data mean for sheet metal contractors.

1. Aluminum mill shapes: +40.5%

No major metal category in the AGC tables increased more over the past year than aluminum mill shapes.

Prices were 40.5% higher in July 2026 than in July 2025, after aluminum prices had already increased an average of 18.2% during 2025. By comparison, aluminum mill shape prices increased just 0.9% in 2024 and fell 8.4% in 2023.

That acceleration matters for contractors purchasing aluminum for architectural sheet metal, roofing, wall systems and other fabricated applications. Aluminum mill shape prices are now 106.4% higher than in February 2020 – more than double their pre-pandemic level.

There is one sign of near-term relief: aluminum prices declined 1.6% from June to July. But one month’s decline does little to erase the scale of the increase contractors have absorbed over the past year.

2. Steel mill products: +22.5%

Steel tells a somewhat different story.

Steel mill product prices fell 16.2% in 2023 and another 8.8% in 2024 before rising 2.4% in 2025. As of July, however, prices were 22.5% higher than a year earlier – and unlike aluminum, steel continued climbing in the latest month, increasing 3.9% from June.

That reversal may be particularly significant for sheet metal contractors because it means the industry isn’t simply dealing with prices that never normalized after the pandemic. Steel prices fell substantially and then changed direction.

And despite those intervening declines, steel mill products are still 99.7% more expensive than in February 2020.

3. Copper and brass mill shapes: +18.4%

Copper and brass mill shapes were 18.4% more expensive in July than a year earlier and 107.6% above February 2020 levels.

The PPI data arrive amid extraordinary volatility in the broader copper market. U.S. copper futures briefly reached a record of roughly $6.90 per pound on Aug. 6.

The copper rally has come amid constrained supplies, power-grid investment, tariff uncertainty and growing electrification demand. 

Copper and brass mill shapes did decline 2.9% from June to July, according to the PPI data, showing how volatile the market remains.

4. Sheet metal products: +5.2%

Here’s where the numbers become especially interesting for fabricators.

While aluminum increased 40.5%, steel 22.5% and copper and brass 18.4%, the PPI for sheet metal products increased only 5.2% year over year.

A 40% increase in aluminum prices doesn’t automatically translate into a 40% increase in finished-product prices. Labor, overhead, transportation and other costs also affect pricing. Raw metal is just one piece of the final cost equation. But as the gap between soaring input costs and more modest increases in finished-product prices widens, a crucial question emerges for manufacturers and fabricators: How much of these rapidly rising material costs can actually be passed through to customers?

If input prices keep climbing much faster than what contractors can charge for finished goods, the result is tighter margins and more challenging bids. Contractors and fabricators alike will need to scrutinize contracts for escalation clauses, reconsider how long their pricing can remain valid, and think strategically about when and how to renegotiate terms in this volatile market.

5. Architectural metal work: +9.3%

The tables also show that there isn’t one inflation rate for the fabricated metals sector.

Prices for ornamental and architectural metal work increased 9.3% year over year, while prefabricated metal buildings increased 8.6% and sheet metal products increased 5.2%. Overall fabricated structural metal increased just 1.9%.

For architectural sheet metal contractors, another number jumps out: ornamental and architectural metal work prices are now 123.3% higher than in February 2020.

The wide variation reinforces why contractors’ exposure to today’s inflation depends heavily on what they fabricate and install.

6. New nonresidential construction inputs: +7.1%

The metal increases are filtering into a construction market where inflation is already widespread.

Inputs to new nonresidential construction increased 7.1% year over year, with every major nonresidential category shown in AGC’s table recording increases of at least 6.5%.

That breadth may be particularly important for sheet metal firms. Moving between commercial, institutional and industrial markets doesn’t necessarily provide an escape from material escalation when virtually every major nonresidential segment is experiencing similar input-cost increases.

Maintenance and repair isn’t immune either. Inputs to nonresidential maintenance and repair increased 7.6% year over year.

7. Construction wages: +3.5%

Materials are only one part of contractors’ cost equation, but the latest Employment Cost Index data suggest labor isn’t currently escalating nearly as quickly as metals.

Construction wages and salaries increased 3.5% year over year through the second quarter, compared with 3.1% for private industry overall. Total construction compensation also increased 3.5%, versus 3.3% across private industry. Unlike AGC’s hourly earnings measure, the Employment Cost Index captures wages and salaries across a broader compensation framework.

For contractors already dealing with skilled-labor constraints, those increases still add to project costs. But they also put the metal numbers into perspective: construction wages are rising at a mid-single-digit pace while some critical metals are increasing at multiples of that rate.

The number behind all the numbers: 2020

Perhaps the clearest way to understand the industry’s current position is to pull back from the latest year-over-year comparisons.

In other words, the prices of several major mill metals have roughly doubled since immediately before the pandemic, while sheet metal products themselves are 63% more expensive.

That leaves contractors confronting a familiar problem at a new scale: determining how much escalation to build into a bid, how long pricing can remain valid and how much rising material cost can realistically be passed on.

The immediate question isn’t simply whether metals are getting more expensive. The latest data show that they clearly are.

The latest data suggest metal inflation is once again accelerating faster than both finished-product pricing and construction wages, putting renewed pressure on contractor margins.