Publish Date: October 2026
Updated Tariff & Recession Risk Analysis and Forecasts
The Metal Forging Operations Market Report covers the $7.5 billion industry which produces components utilizing controlled deformation under high pressure to enhance mechanical properties and create complex shapes. Competitive structure encompasses both high-volume transportation suppliers and specialized forgers addressing performance-critical components for aerospace, energy, and industrial applications. Market demands increasingly emphasize exceptional strength characteristics, grain structure optimization, near-net-shape capabilities reducing machining requirements, and increasingly complex geometries. Manufacturers face challenges balancing specialized equipment utilization, energy-intensive operations, metallurgical expertise, and tariff implications affecting both metal inputs and international market access. Successful companies establish advantages through advanced forging technologies creating enhanced properties, specialized capabilities addressing complex geometries, comprehensive testing validating performance, and increasingly simulation-driven process optimization improving material utilization in a sector where both technical capabilities and metallurgical expertise determine competitive positioning across diverse metal forging applications.
Metal Forging Operations Industry Definition
Metal Forging Operations shape metal through controlled deformation using hammers, presses, or specialized equipment that applies force to metal heated to enhance plasticity. Companies form metal into specific shapes with improved strength characteristics resulting from grain alignment during the forging process. These businesses serve aerospace, automotive, industrial equipment, and tool markets with components requiring superior strength-to-weight ratios and performance under stress. The industry creates high-strength components through processes that align metal grain structure to enhance mechanical properties, developing advanced techniques like precision forging, near-net-shape processes, and specialized alloy development that maximize performance while improving material utilization and reducing subsequent machining requirements.
NAICS Code: 332111
Number of Companies: 333
Number of Plants / Facilities: 361
Industry Employees: 19,129
Market Size: $7.5 billion
TARIFF IMPACT (Summer 2025 – Download Report for Updated Analysis)
This report has in-depth analysis on the recent US tariff changes on material costs, quantifying import dependencies, tariff exposure rates, and key source countries for the metal forging operations sector.
Estimated Tariff Cost: $340 million
Relative Tariff Impact: VERY HIGH
Metal Forging Operations Report Format
The 2026 U.S. Metal Forging Operations Market Report is 63 pages of deep insights into the trends, dynamics, and forecasts shaping the industry. Professionals leverage this market report to develop a deep understanding of the market for business strategy, planning, forecasting, benchmarking, industry analysis, valuations, identifying organizational inefficiencies, financial analysis, and more.
The report has over 100 industry statistical data sets with historicals (2017-2025), trend analysis, and forecasts for 2026 and the next 5 years. The report includes market size & growth, 26 expense categories, extensive financial analysis, extensive forecasts, inventory statistics, composition of balance sheets, numerous industry segmentations, industry concentration analysis, material costs analysis, profitability metrics, state statistics, plant capacity analysis, workforce composition, inflation trend benchmarks, wage analysis, revenue per employee trends, and numerous other data sets.
Below are a few page images from the report and check out the table of contents for a complete overview.
Report Table of Contents
Review the table of contents to appreciate why thousands of professionals, bankers, consultants, accountants, and other executives rely on Kentley Insights for data-rich industry insights.
For this report, the core data is sourced from comprehensive business, operational, and economic surveys conducted by government and private institutions and filled out by a statistically significant number of companies in the metal forging operations industry. The forecasts in the report are modeled by our research analysts using the latest economic forecasts, industry analysis, and historical trends.
1-2 – Market Report Overview & Contents
3 – Market Overview
– Data Sources, Industry Definition & Market Commentary
4 – Market Synopsis – Revenue & Growth
5 – Market Synopsis – Costs & Profitability
SECTION ONE
REVENUE & GROWTH ANALYSIS
7 – Market Size Details
– Industry Revenues, Companies & Facilities
– Trend Analysis 2017-2025
– 2026 & 2030 Forecasts
8 – Growth Benchmarks
– Sales per Company & Plant
– Trend Analysis 2017-2025
– 2026 & 2030 Forecasts
9 – Product Lines Revenue
– Percentage of Revenue from Product Lines
10 – BCG Matrix – Net Income vs. Revenue Growth
– Subsectors vs. Industry
11 – Total Sales by Month & Year
– 2021-2025 Sales per Month
12 – Inventory Value by Month & Year
– Inventory Value per Month for 2021-2025
13 – Months of Inventory
– Months of Inventory per Month for 2021-2025
14 – Sector Revenue by Segments
– Concentration Segments by Top Companies
– Business Size Segments
– Business Structure Segments
15 – Market Size by State
16 – Market Size as a % of State GDP
17 – Sales as a % of State Manufacturing
18 – Market Segmentation by Business Size
19 – Market Segmentation by Business Size
– Business Size Segments – 1-4, 5-9, 10-20, 21-50, 51-100, 101-250, & 250+ employees
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
20 – Segmentation by Concentration (Top 50 Companies)
– Concentration Segments – Top 4, 5-8, 9-20, & 21-50 companies
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
21 – Market Share of Top 50 Companies
22 – Subsector Market Share of Top 50 Companies
23 – Segmentation by Business Structure
– Business Structure Segments – C-Corporations, S-Corporations, Partnerships, & Sole Proprietorships
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
24 – Revenue per Company by State
– Revenue per Company
25 – Revenue per Company by Segments
26 – Revenue per Facility by State
27 – Revenue per Facility by Segment
– Business Size, Concentration, & Structure
28 – Subsector Growth
– Sales and 5-Year Growth
29 – Subsector Statistics
– Sales per Company & Facility, and 5-Year Growth
30 – Consolidation Analysis
– 5-Year Growth of Companies & Locations
31 – Employment Consolidation Analysis
– 5-Year Growth of Employee Statistics
32 – Subsector Consolidation Analysis
– Number of Companies & Facilities
– 5-Year Growth
33 – Subsector Consolidation Analysis
– Facilities per Company
– Employees per Company
– 5-Year Growth
SECTION TWO
COST, CAPITAL & PROFIT BENCHMARKS
35 – Profitability & Financial Ratio Analysis
– Percent of Companies that are Profitable
– Average Net Income as a Percent of Revenue
– 10 of the Top Financial Ratios
– Assets and Liabilities indexed to industry revenue at 100
– Current & Non-Current Assets: 14 Categories
– Short-term, Long-term Liabilities, & Net Worth: 13 Categories
37 – OPEX
– Industry OPEX
– Revenue vs. OPEX Growth
– OPEX as a Percent of Revenue
– Trend Analysis 2017-2025
– 2026 & 2030 Forecasts
38 – OPEX by Company & Plant
– OPEX per Company & Facility
– Revenue vs. Expenses Growth per Plant
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
Page 39 – OPEX Detail
– Employee Expenses: payroll, insurance, pension, defined contribution plans, fringe benefits, temps
– Cost of Materials: materials, parts, containers, packaging, cost of resale, electricity and fuels, contract work
– Buildings and Equipment: capex for equipment, rental or lease for equipment, capex for buildings and structures, rental or leases, repair and maintenance
– Other Operating Expenses: professional and technical services, IT software and hardware, data processing and communications, advertising, refuse removal, taxes and license fees, other
-Inventory Breakdown: finished goods, work-in-progress, materials and supplies
40 – Production Material Costs & Tariff Analysis
– Top Production Material Costs Breakdown
– Industry & Material Tariff Analysis – % of costs, import %, tariff costs, source countries
41 – Producer Pricing Index
– Annual PPI – Indexed to 2006
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
– Monthly PPI Figures for the Past 4 Years
42 – Plant Utilization & Hours
– Plant Utilization Rate
– Plant Operational Hours per Week
– 2022-2025 Historical Figures by Quarter
43 – Reasons for Non-Full Production
– 7 Categories Quarterly Survey Results for Past 2 Years
44 – Productivity & Employment
– Revenue per Employee
– Total Employees
– Employees per Company
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
45 – Employee Productivity by Segments
– Business Size, Concentration, & Structure
46 – Employee Productivity by State
47 –Subsector Sales & Payroll per Employee
– Absolute & 5-Year Growth
48 – Payroll Analysis
– Payroll per Employee, Company & Plant
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
49 – Payroll per Company by Segments
50 – Payroll per Plant by Segments
51 – Payroll per Employee by Segments
52 – Payroll per Employee by State
53 – Organizational Composition
– % of Employees for 27 Job Categories
– Management & Finance
– Sales & Marketing
– Technology, Engineering, Science
– Service, Support & Training
– Operations
54 – Job Categorization Pay Ranges
– Management & Finance
– Sales, Service & Marketing
– Operations
– Pay Bands – Bottom 10% & 25%, Mean, Top 25% & 10%
55 – Top 20 Jobs Breakdown
56 – Top 20 Jobs Pay
57 – Employees per Company by Segments
58 – Employees per Plant by Segments
59 – Facilities per Company by Segments
60 – Total Employment by State
61 – Population to Every Employee by State
62 – Employees per Facility by State
63 – Overview of Kentley Insights
Download a Sample Report
Below is a free sample report download. The 2026 Metal Forging Operations Market Report has the same layout and data sets as the sample report.
Product Lines, Materials, and Jobs Covered in Report
PRODUCT LINES
Hot impression die impact, press, and upset steel forgings
Seamless rolled ring forgings, ferrous, made from purchased iron and steel
Cold impression die impact, press, and upset steel forgings
Open die and smith forgings (hammer and press), ferrous, made from purchased iron and steel
Iron and steel forging, nsk, total
MATERIAL COST CATEGORIES
Metal forgings
Steel bars (including concrete reinforcing bars), bar shapes, and plate (excluding castings, forgings, and fabricated)
Materials, ingredients, containers, and supplies, nsk
Nonferrous metal shapes, forms, sheet, strip, powder, and wire (excluding castings / forgings), excluding aluminum and copper
Misc. iron, steel, and ferroalloy ingot, shapes, and forms (excluding castings, forgings, bars, structural, wire, sheet, strip)
Cost of all other materials and components, parts, containers, and supplies consumed
Special dies and tools, die sets, jigs, and fixtures
Misc. fabricated metal products (excluding hardware, containers, screw machine, bearing components, castings, forgings, and wire)
Iron and steel castings
INDUSTRY JOBS ANALYZED
Metal Workers and Plastic Workers
Other Production Occupations
Supervisors of Production Workers
Other Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations
Material Moving Workers
Assemblers and Fabricators
Material Recording, Scheduling, Dispatching, and Distributing Workers
Engineers
Top Executives
Operations Specialties Managers
Business Operations Specialists
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing
Information and Record Clerks
Financial Clerks
Other Office and Administrative Support Workers
Construction Trades Workers
Drafters, Engineering Technicians, and Mapping Technicians
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
Motor Vehicle Operators
Financial Specialists
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