Analysis
NAICS 327910 is the 2022 national industry for abrasive product manufacturing, part of 32791 (Abrasive Product Manufacturing). Census lists 17 example activities under it in the official index.
County Business Patterns counts 264 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 10,976 people at an average annual payroll of $71,551 per employee (55th percentile of national industries). 20% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which points to larger operations.
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.
Its index entries, the activities Census uses to assign businesses to this code, include abrasive products manufacturing, aluminum oxide (fused) abrasives manufacturing, buffing and polishing wheels, abrasive and nonabrasive… and cloth (e.g., aluminum oxide, garnet, emery, silicon…, among 17 in all.
Its goods appear in 33 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 6804 (millstones, grindstones, grinding wheels and the like…), 2849 (carbides, whether or not chemically defined) and 7105 (dust and powder of natural or synthetic precious or semi-…). 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 212390, 326199 and 332999. 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 manufacturing abrasive grinding wheels of natural or synthetic materials, abrasive-coated products, and other abrasive products.
Illustrative Examples:
Aluminum oxide (fused) abrasives manufacturing Buffing and polishing wheels, abrasive and nonabrasive, manufacturing Diamond dressing wheels manufacturing Sandpaper manufacturing Silicon carbide abrasives manufacturing Whetstones manufacturing
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.
Not this code if…
| The business mainly does | Use instead |
|---|---|
| Mining and cutting grindstones, pulpstones, and whetstones | 212390 Other Nonmetallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying |
| Manufacturing plastic scouring pads | 326199 All Other Plastics Product Manufacturing |
| Manufacturing metallic scouring pads and steel wool | 332999 All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing |
Index entries (17)
- Abrasive products manufacturing
- Aluminum oxide (fused) abrasives manufacturing
- Buffing and polishing wheels, abrasive and nonabrasive, manufacturing
- Cloth (e.g., aluminum oxide, garnet, emery, silicon carbide), abrasive-coated, made from purchased cloth
- Diamond dressing wheels manufacturing
- Grains, abrasive, natural and artificial, manufacturing
- Grinding balls, ceramic, manufacturing
- Grinding wheels manufacturing
- Paper (e.g., aluminum oxide, emery, garnet, silicon carbide), abrasive-coated, made from purchased paper
- Polishing wheels manufacturing
- Pumice and pumicite abrasives manufacturing
- Sandpaper manufacturing
- Silicon carbide abrasives manufacturing
- Steel shot abrasives manufacturing
- Wheels, abrasive, manufacturing
- Wheels, polishing and grinding, manufacturing
- Whetstones manufacturing