IMPORTANT CHANGE IN PPI COMMODITY CODE STRUCTURE - Expansion of 1017 Steel mill product 8 digit codes in 2011:

The inflation indexes used for the LIFO calculation are the Producer Price Indexes (PPI) published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in Table 6 of the PPI Detailed Report online publication. There are approximately 2,200 different Table 6 PPI categories for which the BLS publishes indexes. Twice a year, in January and July, the BLS makes changes in the PPI categories published by adding some categories and discontinuing others.

About a year ago, the BLS made a significant change in the PPI categories included in the 1017 Steel mill products 4 digit code. Since 1982, the BLS has used these seven different 6 digit codes:

101702	Semifinished steel mill products
101703	Hot rolled sheet and strip, incl. tin mill
101704	Hot rolled bars, plates, and structural shapes
101705	Steel wire
101706	Steel pipe and tube
101707	Cold rolled sheets and strip
101708	Cold finished bars

Prior to 2003, the BLS published indexes for numerous 8 digit codes that were included in the seven different 6 digit codes above but the BLS discontinued all of these 8 digit codes in 2003. Starting with the indexes published for December 2010, the BLS has again expanded the number of 8 digit codes included in the four of the seven different 6 digit codes above. The table below shows the changes that were made.

101702	Semifinished steel mill products
Code discontinued after Dec. 2010
10170201	Semifinished steel mill products

Code discontinued after Dec. 2010
10170202	Wire rod, carbon
10170203	Steel ingots and semifinished steel mill products, carbon
10170204	Steel ingots and semifinished steel mill products, alloy
10170206	Other steel mill products

101704	Hot rolled bars, plates, and structural shapes
Code discontinued after Dec. 2010
10170401	Hot rolled bars, plates, and structural shapes

New codes to use after Dec. 2010
10170402	Hot rolled steel bars, carbon
10170404	Hot rolled steel structural shapes, carbon
10170405	Concrete reinforcing bar, carbon
10170406	Hot rolled steel bars, plates, & structural shapes, alloy
10170407	Hot rolled steel bars, plates, & structural shapes, stainless

101705	Steel wire

New codes to use after Dec. 2010
10170501	Steel wire, Carbon
10170502	Steel wire, stainless steel
10170503	Steel wire, alloy

101706	Steel pipe and tube
Code discontinued after Dec. 2010
10170601	Steel pipe and tube

New codes to use after Dec. 2010
10170671	OCTG, standard, line pipe, carbon
10170672	Pressure, mechanical, structural and other steel pipe and tube, carbon
10170673	Steel pipe and tube, alloy
10170674	Steel pipe and tube, stainless steel

No change was made for these three 6 digit codes.
101703	Hot rolled sheet and strip, incl. tin mill
101707	Cold rolled sheets and strip
101708	Cold finished bars