Total cold-formed steel product manufacturing volume in the United States increased 3.8 percent during Q3 2024, compared with Q2 this year, the Steel Framing Industry Association’s data shows.

The Q3 tonnage increase reflects, this time around, a greater number of CFS product manufacturers reporting their data. The Q3 increase also comes on top of a Q2 rise of 2.3 percent, compared to Q1.

The SFIA report — SFIA 2024 Data, which includes the Q3 tonnage data — is available for purchase from the SFIA Store. Additional data reports, including data and analysis from 2023, 2022, etc., are also available for purchase.

“The Q3 increase is exciting news, which shows the strength of the cold-formed steel framing industry,” said Don Allen, SFIA executive director. “It’s a testament to our industry’s resilience and continued innovation — a real win for the industry and everyone involved in building with steel.”

Total volume of both structural and nonstructural manufactured CFS framing products was up in the East and South-Central U.S. regions. The North-Central region’s volume was basically flat, while the West region’s manufacturing volume output was down.

According to the Q3 2024 SFIA survey:

• East: 5.2 percent growth in Q3 2024 total CFS volume vs. Q2
• North-Central: 0.2 percent growth in Q3 2024 total CFS volume vs. Q2
• South-Central: 14.8 percent growth in Q3 2024 total CFS volume vs. Q2
• West: 4.6 percent decline in Q3 2024 total CFS volume vs. Q2

The complete SFIA Data report includes the total tons of manufactured CFS framing products by region and category (structural and nonstructural).

The SFIA data is derived from a survey of U.S. manufacturers. It represents the volume of steel, in raw tons before processing, used to produce studs, tracks, joists, angles, furring channels, hat channels, flat steel, Z-furrings, clips, purlins, girts, resilient channels, cold-rolled channels, cold-formed truss components, special cold-formed shapes and any scraps produced. Metal lath is not reported.

Two Reports Available

1. SFIA Data
The 2024 SFIA Data report is the only market research report that provides quarterly and annual tonnage data for the movement of steel framing products in the U.S., by type and region, and that tracks steel framing product inventories. The data is derived from quarterly surveys of leading CFS manufacturers, which represent more than 85 percent of the CFS products manufactured in the U.S.

The data is collected by Thompson Research Group, which surveys CFS manufacturers, aggregates the data, and reports on the volume of steel used to produce steel studs, tracks, joists and related CFS materials.

2. SFIA Data with Analysis
The companion report, 2024 SFIA Data with Analysis, adds market intelligence captured by TRG surveys of companies that buy and use CFS products, providing analysis in context with other construction market indices.