Analysis
NAICS 325992 is the 2022 national industry for photographic film, paper, plate, chemical, and copy toner manufacturing, part of 32599 (All Other Chemical Product and Preparation Manufacturing). Census lists 21 example activities under it in the official index.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 29% and employment fell 24%. 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.
By establishments it ranks 3rd of the 3 codes at this level within All Other Chemical Product and Preparation Manufacturing, with 7.1% of them.
County Business Patterns counts 132 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 6,258 people at an average annual payroll of $71,259 per employee (55th percentile of national industries). 52% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which is close to the national mix.
Its index entries, the activities Census uses to assign businesses to this code, include computer printer toner cartridges manufacturing, developers, prepared photographic, manufacturing, diazo (i.e., whiteprint) paper and cloth, sensitized… and driers, photographic chemical, manufacturing, among 21 in all.
Its goods appear in 54 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 3702 (photographic film in rolls, sensitized, unexposed, of any…), 3703 (photographic paper, paperboard and textiles, sensitized…) and 3701 (photographic plates and film in the flat, sensitized…). That link is how import data is matched to domestic producers, for example in trade-remedy cases.
Official definition
This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing sensitized film, sensitized paper, sensitized cloth, sensitized plates, toners (i.e., for photocopiers, laser printers, and similar electrostatic printing devices), toner cartridges, and photographic chemicals.
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.
Not this code if…
| The business mainly does | Use instead |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing photographic paper stock (i.e., unsensitized) and paper mats, mounts, easels, and folders for photographic use | 322 Paper Manufacturing |
| Purchasing used toner cartridges and reselling them to manufacturers for remanufacturing | 423930 Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesalers |
Index entries (21)
- Computer printer toner cartridges manufacturing
- Developers, prepared photographic, manufacturing
- Diazo (i.e., whiteprint) paper and cloth, sensitized, manufacturing
- Driers, photographic chemical, manufacturing
- Facsimile toner cartridges manufacturing
- Film, sensitized (e.g., camera, motion picture, X-ray), manufacturing
- Fixers, prepared photographic, manufacturing
- Graphic arts plates, sensitized, manufacturing
- Heat sensitized (i.e., thermal) paper made from purchased paper
- Motion picture film manufacturing
- Paper, photographic sensitized, manufacturing
- Photocopying toner cartridges manufacturing
- Photographic chemicals manufacturing
- Photographic film, cloth, paper, and plate, sensitized, manufacturing
- Photomasks manufacturing
- Photosensitized paper manufacturing
- Sensitized cloth or paper (e.g., blueprint, photographic) manufacturing
- Toner cartridges manufacturing
- Toner cartridges rebuilding
- Toners, electrostatic and photographic, manufacturing
- X-ray film and plates, sensitized, manufacturing