3221

Analysis

NAICS 3221 is the 2022 industry group for pulp, paper, and paperboard mills, part of 322 (Paper Manufacturing). Census lists 76 example activities under it in the official index.

County Business Patterns counts 402 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 90,792 people at an average annual payroll of $94,271 per employee (80th percentile of national industries). 10% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which points to larger operations.

By establishments it ranks 2nd of the 2 codes at this level within Paper Manufacturing, with 10.5% of them.

Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 11% and employment fell 8%. The 2018 count used NAICS 2017, so part of a large move can come from codes being redefined rather than from businesses opening or closing.

Across its national industries Census lists 76 index entries; typical ones are deinking plants, absorbent paper stock manufacturing and binder's board manufacturing.

Its goods appear in 89 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 4810 (paper and paperboard, coated on one or both sides with…), 4804 (uncoated kraft paper and paperboard, in rolls or sheets…) and 4805 (other uncoated paper and paperboard, in rolls or sheets…). That link is how import data is matched to domestic producers, for example in trade-remedy cases.