Analysis
NAICS 327120 is the 2022 national industry for clay building material and refractories manufacturing, part of 32712 (Clay Building Material and Refractories Manufacturing). Census lists 51 example activities under it in the official index.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 13% and employment rose 1%. 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 461 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 23,500 people at an average annual payroll of $62,594 per employee (38th percentile of national industries). 18% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which points to larger operations.
Its index entries, the activities Census uses to assign businesses to this code, include adobe bricks manufacturing, alumina fused refractories manufacturing, aluminous refractory cement manufacturing and architectural terra cotta manufacturing, among 51 in all.
Its goods appear in 69 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 6907 (ceramic flags and paving, hearth or wall tiles; ceramic…), 6902 (refractory bricks, blocks, tiles and similar refractory…) and 6904 (ceramic building bricks, flooring blocks, support or filler…). That link is how import data is matched to domestic producers, for example in trade-remedy cases.
Census lists 3 related activities that belong elsewhere, most often in 326199, 327331 and 32721. Businesses that do several things are classified by their primary activity, the one that generates the most value, so check those boundaries before settling on this code.
Official definition
This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in shaping, molding, baking, burning, or hardening clay refractories, nonclay refractories, ceramic tile, structural clay tile, brick, and other structural clay building materials. A refractory is a material that will retain its shape and chemical identity when subjected to high temperatures and is used in applications that require extreme resistance to heat, such as furnace linings.
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.
Not this code if…
Index entries (51)
- Adobe bricks manufacturing
- Alumina fused refractories manufacturing
- Aluminous refractory cement manufacturing
- Architectural terra cotta manufacturing
- Bauxite brick manufacturing
- Blocks, fire clay, manufacturing
- Bricks (i.e., common, face, glazed, hollow, vitrified), clay, manufacturing
- Bricks, adobe, manufacturing
- Bricks, clay refractory, manufacturing
- Bricks, nonclay refractory, manufacturing
- Building tile, clay, manufacturing
- Carbon brick manufacturing
- Castable refractories, clay, manufacturing
- Castable refractories, nonclay, manufacturing
- Cement, clay refractory, manufacturing
- Ceramic tiles, floor and wall, manufacturing
- Clay refractories (e.g., mortar, brick, tile, block) manufacturing
- Conduit, vitrified clay, manufacturing
- Coping, wall, clay, manufacturing
- Crucibles, fire clay, manufacturing
- Crucibles, graphite, magnesite, chrome, silica, or other nonclay materials, manufacturing
- Drain tile, clay, manufacturing
- Firebrick, clay refractories, manufacturing
- Floaters, glasshouse, clay, manufacturing
- Floor tile, ceramic, manufacturing
- Flue lining, clay, manufacturing
- Glasshouse refractories manufacturing
- Insulating firebrick and shapes, clay, manufacturing
- Kiln furniture, clay, manufacturing
- Liner brick and plates, vitrified clay, manufacturing
- Magnesia refractory cement manufacturing
- Mortar, nonclay refractory, manufacturing
- Mortars, clay refractory, manufacturing
- Mosaic tile, ceramic, manufacturing
- Nonclay refractories (e.g., block, brick, mortar, tile) manufacturing
- Paving brick, clay, manufacturing
- Pots, glasshouse, clay refractory, manufacturing
- Quarry tiles, clay, manufacturing
- Refractories (e.g., block, brick, mortar, tile), clay, manufacturing
- Refractories (e.g., block, brick, mortar, tile), nonclay, manufacturing