New Manufacturing Marketing Guide 2026

Last Updated: June 8, 2026

Manufacturing Shipments Statistics 2026

Manufacturing shipments are one of the cleanest signals for what factories are actually moving out the door. Orders can sit in backlog. Inventories can pile up. Shipments show finished goods leaving plants and entering the customer, distributor, OEM, or channel pipeline.

This report compiles more than 70 manufacturing shipments data points from the U.S. Census Bureau's Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders current data release. The April 2026 full report shows the manufacturing sector at $641.0 billion in seasonally adjusted shipments, with durable goods at $324.5 billion and nondurable goods at $316.5 billion, based on Census M3 Table 1.

The M3 release is a United States economic indicator used for economic data, manufacturing activity, manufacturing sales, and value of shipments research. Analysts track economic data through related data series from FRED from the St. Louis Fed, including the latest monthly advance report and full-report manufacturing shipment feeds. Census organizes the report around the North American Industry Classification System, and readers can download the original spreadsheets from the Census current data page.

$641.0B

All manufacturing shipments in April 2026, seasonally adjusted, from Census Table 1

1.0%

Monthly increase from March to April 2026, from Census Table 1

1.50

Manufacturing inventory-to-shipments ratio in April 2026, from Census Table 7

What's in This Manufacturing Shipments Report

Top Manufacturing Shipments Statistics for 2026

The headline number is big enough to hide the practical signal. According to Census M3 Table 1, all manufacturing industries shipped $641.0 billion in April 2026 on a seasonally adjusted basis. That was up 1.0% from March 2026, when shipments were $634.7 billion. It was also above February 2026 shipments of $625.1 billion.

Durable goods manufacturers shipped $324.5 billion in April 2026, also from Census Table 1. Nondurable goods manufacturers shipped $316.5 billion. That puts durable goods at roughly 50.6% of total manufacturing shipments for the month, with nondurable goods close behind at 49.4%.

The biggest single industry group in the table was transportation equipment, at $107.8 billion in April 2026 shipments. Food products followed at $90.0 billion, chemical products at $86.0 billion, petroleum and coal products at $64.7 billion, fabricated metal products at $43.5 billion, and machinery at $41.6 billion. Those six groups alone account for a large share of plant output, supplier demand, logistics volume, and industrial sales coverage in the U.S. manufacturing base.

Quick answer: U.S. manufacturing shipments reached $641.0 billion in April 2026, up 1.0% from March, according to U.S. Census Bureau M3 Table 1. Durable goods shipments were $324.5 billion, and nondurable goods shipments were $316.5 billion.

For manufacturers selling into these sectors, shipment data is useful because it sits closer to revenue reality than broad confidence surveys. A metalworking fluid supplier, replacement-parts distributor, or contract machining shop can look at shipment momentum by sector and see which customer groups are running material through the plant now, not just forecasting demand six months out.

Manufacturing Shipments by Industry, April 2026

The table below pulls the highest-value and most sales-relevant lines from Census M3 Table 1. Values are shown in billions of dollars. The seasonally adjusted column is the main trend number. The not seasonally adjusted column is useful for companies that need the raw month value for sales territory planning, freight planning, or channel demand checks.

Industry Apr. 2026 shipments, seasonally adjusted Mar. 2026 shipments Monthly change Apr. 2026 shipments, not seasonally adjusted Source
All manufacturing industries $641.0B $634.7B 1.0% $645.2B Census M3 Table 1
Manufacturing excluding transportation $533.2B $527.8B 1.0% $538.7B Census M3 Table 1
Manufacturing excluding defense $619.7B $613.7B 1.0% $624.4B Census M3 Table 1
Durable goods industries $324.5B $322.6B 0.6% $322.9B Census M3 Table 1
Nondurable goods industries $316.5B $312.2B 1.4% $322.3B Census M3 Table 1
Transportation equipment $107.8B $107.0B 0.8% $106.5B Census M3 Table 1
Food products $90.0B $89.9B 0.1% $88.6B Census M3 Table 1
Chemical products $86.0B $84.5B 1.8% $87.4B Census M3 Table 1
Petroleum and coal products $64.7B $62.2B 4.0% $69.7B Census M3 Table 1
Fabricated metal products $43.5B $43.1B 0.9% $44.0B Census M3 Table 1
Machinery $41.6B $41.6B 0.0% $41.9B Census M3 Table 1
Computers and electronic products $33.5B $33.3B 0.5% $31.0B Census M3 Table 1
Primary metals $29.0B $28.8B 0.6% $30.3B Census M3 Table 1
Plastics and rubber products $26.0B $25.8B 0.8% $26.5B Census M3 Table 1
Pharmaceuticals and medicines $25.4B $24.8B 2.5% $25.1B Census M3 Table 1
Light trucks and utility vehicles $22.9B $22.3B 2.9% $22.6B Census M3 Table 1
Paper products $19.2B $19.1B 0.7% $19.0B Census M3 Table 1
Beverage and tobacco products $18.4B $18.4B -0.2% $18.7B Census M3 Table 1
Electrical equipment, appliances, and components $18.3B $18.2B 0.6% $17.6B Census M3 Table 1
Nondefense aircraft and parts $17.2B $16.6B 3.1% $15.0B Census M3 Table 1
Iron and steel mills $15.2B $15.4B -0.7% $16.1B Census M3 Table 1
Nonmetallic mineral products $15.0B $14.9B 0.4% $15.3B Census M3 Table 1
Wood products $13.8B $13.7B 0.7% $14.8B Census M3 Table 1
Automobiles $13.1B $13.7B -4.2% $13.4B Census M3 Table 1
Dairy products $12.9B $13.1B -1.4% $12.7B Census M3 Table 1
Beverages $12.3B $12.2B 0.7% $12.6B Census M3 Table 1
Aluminum and nonferrous metals $11.6B $11.4B 1.8% $11.9B Census M3 Table 1
Grain and oilseed milling $10.0B $10.0B 0.0% $9.9B Census M3 Table 1
Electromedical, measuring, and control instruments $9.8B $9.8B 0.3% $8.9B Census M3 Table 1
Meat, poultry, and seafood products $26.1B $26.0B 0.5% $26.1B Census M3 Table 1

Durable Goods Shipments: Where Big-Ticket Industrial Demand Shows Up

Durable goods shipments were $324.5 billion in April 2026, up 0.6% from March, according to Census M3 Table 1. This group matters for industrial marketers because it includes many sectors that buy tooling, automation, controls, fabrication, precision machining, coating, maintenance parts, packaging equipment, and technical services.

Transportation equipment led the durable side at $107.8 billion. Within that group, motor vehicle bodies, parts, and trailers shipped $32.7 billion, light trucks and utility vehicles shipped $22.9 billion, nondefense aircraft and parts shipped $17.2 billion, automobiles shipped $13.1 billion, defense aircraft and parts shipped $5.7 billion, and ships and boats shipped $4.4 billion. Each of those figures comes from Census Table 1.

Fabricated metal products reached $43.5 billion in April 2026 shipments, up 0.9% month over month. Machinery was nearly the same size at $41.6 billion, with industrial machinery at $4.6 billion, construction machinery at $4.4 billion, power transmission equipment at $5.3 billion, and metalworking machinery at $2.9 billion. For a manufacturer selling into machine builders, fabricators, MRO distributors, or OEM plants, this is the part of the M3 report worth watching closely.

Primary metals shipped $29.0 billion, including $15.2 billion from iron and steel mills, $11.6 billion from aluminum and nonferrous metals, and $2.1 billion from ferrous metal foundries. Computers and electronic products shipped $33.5 billion. Electrical equipment, appliances, and components shipped $18.3 billion, with batteries alone at $5.1 billion. These are not abstract macro numbers. They're a rough map of where manufacturing buyers are busy, where capacity is being used, and where qualified RFQ demand may be easier to find.

Nondurable Goods Shipments: Food, Chemicals, Petroleum, Paper, and Packaging

Nondurable goods manufacturers shipped $316.5 billion in April 2026, up 1.4% from March, based on Census Table 1. Nondurable is sometimes treated as a softer category than durable goods, but it includes high-volume sectors with constant plant-floor needs: food processing, chemicals, petroleum, packaging, printing, plastics, paper, textiles, and beverage operations.

Food products shipped $90.0 billion in April 2026. Inside food, meat, poultry, and seafood products shipped $26.1 billion, dairy products shipped $12.9 billion, and grain and oilseed milling shipped $10.0 billion, all from Census Table 1. Those plants buy maintenance services, sanitary equipment, packaging materials, conveyors, replacement components, testing equipment, and cleaning systems whether the broader industrial cycle is hot or cold.

Chemical products shipped $86.0 billion. Pharmaceuticals and medicines accounted for $25.4 billion of that total, while pesticides, fertilizers, and other agricultural chemicals shipped $5.4 billion, and paints, coatings, and adhesives shipped $4.3 billion. Petroleum and coal products shipped $64.7 billion, with petroleum refineries accounting for $60.1 billion.

Paper products shipped $19.2 billion, beverage and tobacco products shipped $18.4 billion, plastics and rubber products shipped $26.0 billion, and printing shipped $7.2 billion. When you're building marketing pages or outbound lists for industrial suppliers, those shipment numbers help separate large, active process-manufacturing markets from smaller targets that may still matter locally but won't support the same national account strategy.

Inventory-to-Shipments and Unfilled-Orders-to-Shipments Ratios

Shipments alone tell you what's leaving the plant. Inventory and unfilled order ratios tell you how much work is sitting around that shipment flow. Census M3 Table 7 reported an all-manufacturing inventory-to-shipments ratio of 1.50 for April 2026. Durable goods had a higher inventory-to-shipments ratio of 1.85 and an unfilled-orders-to-shipments ratio of 6.95.

That durable goods order ratio is the important one for anyone selling to capital-equipment, aerospace, machinery, vehicle, or fabricated metal buyers. When unfilled orders sit many months above shipments, buyers care more about capacity, documentation, lead times, and supplier reliability. A website that only says "quality manufacturing" doesn't answer the questions those buyers are actually trying to resolve.

Metric Shipment context Shipment trend April 2026 ratio Source
All manufacturing industries with unfilled orders $225.7B 0.7% 1.50 Census Table 1 and Table 7
Durable goods inventory-to-shipments ratio $324.5B shipments 0.6% shipments growth 1.85 Census Table 1 and Table 7
Durable goods unfilled-orders-to-shipments ratio $324.5B shipments 0.6% shipments growth 6.95 Census Table 7
Primary metals inventory-to-shipments ratio $29.0B shipments 0.6% shipments growth 1.73 Census Table 7
Fabricated metals inventory-to-shipments ratio $43.5B shipments 0.9% shipments growth 1.72 Census Table 7
Machinery inventory-to-shipments ratio $41.6B shipments flat monthly shipments 2.51 Census Table 7
Computers and electronic products inventory-to-shipments ratio $33.5B shipments 0.5% shipments growth 2.03 Census Table 7
Electrical equipment inventory-to-shipments ratio $18.3B shipments 0.6% shipments growth 1.62 Census Table 7

How Manufacturers Can Use Shipment Data for Lead Generation

Shipment data won't tell you which individual plant is ready to buy. It will tell you which markets are moving product, which ones are carrying backlog pressure, and which sectors deserve more or less attention in your account strategy. That matters when your sales team has limited quoting capacity and can't chase every weak-fit RFQ that hits the inbox.

A contract machine shop that serves industrial machinery and fabricated metal buyers can use Census Table 1 to watch whether those shipment categories are expanding. If fabricated metal products are up and machinery is flat, the shop may choose to feature capacity, setup speed, and replacement-part work for fabricated metal buyers while keeping machinery content focused on proof, inspection, and past applications.

A packaging, conveyor, or sanitation supplier selling to food plants should read the food product line differently. Food products shipped $90.0 billion in April 2026, from Census Table 1, and meat, poultry, and seafood alone shipped $26.1 billion. That is a strong reason to build pages around food plant uptime, washdown-ready components, sanitary design, and emergency replacement scenarios instead of generic manufacturing content.

The same logic works for aerospace, automotive, electronics, plastics, and chemicals. Shipment data gives your marketing and sales team a practical industry weighting system. Pair it with your own close rates, RFQ quality, and delivery constraints, then put your strongest proof where buyers are already seeing production volume.

Methodology and Data Notes

This page uses the U.S. Census Bureau's current M3 data release, mainly Table 1, Value of Manufacturers' Shipments for Industry Groups, and Table 7, inventory-to-shipments and unfilled-orders-to-shipments ratios. Census states that M3 estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on the Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey.

The Census Bureau's M3 methodology page explains how the statistical data are collected and adjusted. The M3 survey measures current industrial activity by tracking shipments, inventories, new orders for manufactured goods, and unfilled orders for the domestic manufacturing sector. Census also notes in the table footnotes that estimates are subject to revision, are not adjusted for price changes, and include sampling and nonsampling limits.

Values in this resource are rounded to one decimal place in billions of dollars for readability. For example, the Census value of 641,012 million dollars is shown here as $641.0 billion. When you need exact millions for analysis, use the original Census spreadsheets linked in the sources section. For a graph, federal economy tracking, trade context, or policy analysis, use the original Census tables and the FRED source together.

Cite This Manufacturing Shipments Report

Suggested citation:

Manufacturing Lead Generation. "70+ Manufacturing Shipments Statistics 2026: Industry Data From the Census M3 Survey." Last updated June 8, 2026. https://manufacturingleadgeneration.com/manufacturing-shipments-statistics/

Sources

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