32212

Analysis

NAICS 32212 is the 2022 NAICS industry for paper mills, part of 3221 (Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills).

It has only one more detailed code, 322120, which covers exactly the same activities; the definition, index entries and statistics are on that page.

Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 17% and employment fell 20%. 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.

County Business Patterns counts 188 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 42,893 people at an average annual payroll of $86,660 per employee (75th percentile of national industries). 12% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which points to larger operations.

By establishments it ranks 1st of the 3 codes at this level within Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills, with 46.8% of them.

Its goods appear in 132 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 4802 (uncoated paper and paperboard, of a kind used for writing…), 4810 (paper and paperboard, coated on one or both sides with…) and 4804 (uncoated kraft paper and paperboard, in rolls or sheets…). That link is how import data is matched to domestic producers, for example in trade-remedy cases.