Oxford’s Monthly Industry Briefings for January have been released and are available on the website. These reports contain the latest developments for eleven major industries around the globe with short industry briefs provided by Oxford Economics. These two-to-three-page briefs include a short-written summary, output/trend graphs, and an output table.
Brief highlights from the reports can be read below:
Basic Metals:
- Oxford Economics expects that metals prices will outperform other commodity groups in 2026, however, performance across the sector will remain uneven. Basic metals price forecasts by Oxford Economics have been raised to reflect tightening market conditions and firmer consumption. Steel prices, on the other hand, are subject to weak demand and rising global capacity which prevent them from being a source of strong growth in the near future.
Construction:
- US housing starts fell 4.6% month over month in October 2025, according to Oxford Economics’ latest report. The West was the worst performing region, falling 21.9% month over month while the Midwest and South both recorded small improvements of 0.5% and 1.3%, respectively.
Electronics and Computers:
- Oxford Economics writes that US production for this sector grew 1.2% month over month seasonally adjusted in December. Global semiconductor sales rose 3.5% month over month seasonally adjusted in November, lead by Asia Pacific and the Americas.
Utilities:
- Below-freezing temperatures across the US are expected to result in a significant rise in utilities output in January, according to Oxford Economics. However, prices are expected to normalize quickly after the storm.
These reports and more are available to all NFPA members on the member hub. Questions? Contact Cecilia Bart at cbart@nfpa.com or 414-259-2027.