Softwood lumber
Soft sawnwood, average of softwoods. U.S. dollars per metric ton.
Browse lumber listingsPrice
$283.4/t
Unchanged
12 months
-15.85%
Jun 2026 · $283.4/t-7.8% over 2Y
$355.0$277.0
Jun 2024Jun 2025Jun 2026
What materials cost, and which way they're moving.
Benchmark prices and producer price trends for the materials that turn up on BuildTrader. Latest reading covers June 2026.
Benchmark prices
Actual dollars, month over month. Units differ by commodity.
Hardwood
Hard sawnwood, the benchmark behind hardwood flooring and trim. U.S. dollars per cubic meter.
Browse flooring listingsPrice
$726.8/m³
-8.50 -1.16%
12 months
-1.60%
Jun 2026 · $726.8/m³+4.9% over 2Y
$740.6$673.2
Jun 2024Jun 2025Jun 2026
Copper
Global benchmark copper: wire, tube and flashing. U.S. dollars per metric ton.
Price
$13,552/t
+40 +0.30%
12 months
+37.79%
Jun 2026 · $13,552/t+40.5% over 2Y
$13,552$8,910
Jun 2024Jun 2025Jun 2026
Aluminum
Global benchmark aluminum, the metal behind siding, gutters and window frames. U.S. dollars per metric ton.
Price
$3,439/t
-219 -6.00%
12 months
+36.14%
Jun 2026 · $3,439/t+37.7% over 2Y
$3,658$2,349
Jun 2024Jun 2025Jun 2026
Zinc
What galvanizing costs, so it moves galvanized framing, roofing, gutters and fasteners. U.S. dollars per metric ton.
Price
$3,539/t
+61 +1.76%
12 months
+33.30%
Jun 2026 · $3,539/t+26.0% over 2Y
$3,539$2,611
Jun 2024Jun 2025Jun 2026
Iron ore
The closest dollar benchmark to steel, upstream of rebar and structural shapes. There is no monthly global steel price in dollars, so finished steel appears below as an index. U.S. dollars per metric ton.
Price
$103.8/t
-7.84 -7.02%
12 months
+7.93%
Jun 2026 · $103.8/t-4.0% over 2Y
$111.6$96.17
Jun 2024Jun 2025Jun 2026
Natural gas
Henry Hub. Cement, gypsum board, glass and brick are all fired with it, so it sits upstream of a real share of any material bill. U.S. dollars per million BTU.
Price
$3.21/MMBtu
+0.27 +9.12%
12 months
-12.82%
Jun 2026 · $3.21/MMBtu+13.7% over 2Y
$4.46$2.10
Jun 2024Jun 2025Jun 2026
Crude oil
WTI. Asphalt shingles and PVC are made of it and every delivery burns it, so it moves more of a material bill than it looks like. U.S. dollars per barrel.
Price
$84.60/bbl
-17.44 -17.09%
12 months
+23.44%
Jun 2026 · $84.60/bbl+5.9% over 2Y
$102.0$58.04
Jun 2024Jun 2025Jun 2026
Price indexes
Finished products and the scrap market, which is the salvage floor under surplus metal. These are index levels, not prices: each number is a level against a fixed base year, so only the direction and the percentage mean anything.
Index level
361.9
Unchanged
12 months
-1.10%
Jun 2026 · 361.9-0.1% over 2Y
369.5361.4
Jun 2024Jun 2025Jun 2026
Asphalt roofing
Prepared asphalt and tar roofing and siding: shingles and rolled roofing as they leave the plant.
Browse roofing listingsIndex level
What this is, and what it isn't
These are monthly readings, not a live tape. Benchmark prices come from the IMF primary commodity data; the indexes come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both are published a few weeks after the month they cover, which is why every figure here names its month.
They are global wholesale benchmarks by the tonne, not a quote from your supplier and not a local price. What a bunk of surplus studs is worth on your street depends on who finished a job last week. Treat this as which way the wind is blowing, and price your own listings on what you see nearby.
Source: FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, series PSAWOREUSDM, PSAWMALUSDM, PCOPPUSDM, PALUMUSDM, PZINCUSDM, PIORECRUSDM, PNGASUSUSDM, POILWTIUSDM, PCU3274203274201, PCU3241223241222, PCU327320327320, PCU326122326122, WPU101, WPU101704, WPU10230102, WPU1012, WPU102302, WPU139201, WPU072106063, PCU332322332322, PCU33232333232382, WPU1042, WPUSI012011.
