Analysis
NAICS 331410 is the 2022 national industry for nonferrous metal (except aluminum) smelting and refining, part of 33141 (Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Smelting and Refining). Census lists 46 example activities under it in the official index.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 17% and employment rose 11%. 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 112 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 8,755 people at an average annual payroll of $84,915 per employee (73rd percentile of national industries). 28% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which is close to the national mix.
Census lists 7 related activities that belong elsewhere, most often in 2122, 331420, 331491 and 331492. 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.
Its index entries, the activities Census uses to assign businesses to this code, include antimony refining, primary, bars made in primary copper smelting and refining mills, beryllium refining, primary and bismuth refining, primary, among 46 in all.
Its goods appear in 118 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 2620 (slag, ash and residues (other than from the manufacture of…), 8112 (beryllium, chromium, hafnium, rhenium, thallium, cadmium…) and 7110 (platinum, unwrought or in semimanufactured forms, or in…). That link is how import data is matched to domestic producers, for example in trade-remedy cases.
Official definition
This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in (1) smelting ores into nonferrous metals and/or (2) the primary refining of nonferrous metals (except aluminum) by electrolytic methods or other processes.
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.
Not this code if…
| The business mainly does | Use instead |
|---|---|
| Mining and making copper and other nonferrous concentrates (including gold and silver bullion), by processes, such as solvent extraction or electrowinning | 2122 Metal Ore Mining |
| Recovering copper or copper alloys from scrap or dross and/or alloying, rolling, drawing, and extruding purchased copper | 331420 Copper Rolling, Drawing, Extruding, and Alloying |
| Rolling, drawing, and/or extruding nonferrous metal shapes (except copper and aluminum) from purchased nonferrous metals (except copper and aluminum) or by recovering nonferrous metals (except copper and aluminum) and rolling, drawing, or extruding | 331491 Nonferrous Metal (except Copper and Aluminum) Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding |
| Recovering nonferrous metals (except copper and aluminum) from scrap and making primary forms and/or alloying purchased nonferrous metals (except copper and aluminum) | 331492 Secondary Smelting, Refining, and Alloying of Nonferrous Metal (except Copper and Aluminum) |
| Making aluminum from alumina | 331313 Alumina Refining and Primary Aluminum Production |
| Operating facilities where commingled recyclable materials, such as paper, plastics, used beverage cans, and metals, are sorted into distinct categories without also smelting or refining | 562920 Materials Recovery Facilities |
| Sorting, breaking up, and wholesaling scrap metal without also smelting or refining | 423930 Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesalers |
Index entries (46)
- Antimony refining, primary
- Bars made in primary copper smelting and refining mills
- Beryllium refining, primary
- Bismuth refining, primary
- Blister copper manufacturing
- Cadmium refining, primary
- Chromium refining, primary
- Cobalt refining, primary
- Copper alloys made in primary copper smelting and refining mills
- Copper concentrate refining
- Copper shapes (e.g., bar, billet, ingot, plate, sheet) made in primary copper smelting and refining mills
- Copper smelting and refining, primary
- Germanium refining, primary
- Gold bullion or dore bar produced at primary metal refineries
- Gold refining, primary
- Ingot, primary, nonferrous metals (except aluminum), manufacturing
- Iridium refining, primary
- Lead smelting and refining, primary
- Magnesium refining, primary
- Nickel refining, primary
- Niobium refining, primary
- Nonferrous metal (except aluminum) shapes made in primary nonferrous metal smelting and refining mills
- Nonferrous metals (except aluminum) made in primary nonferrous metal smelting and refining mills
- Nonferrous metals (except aluminum) smelting and refining, primary
- Platinum refining, primary
- Precious metals refining, primary
- Primary refining of copper
- Primary refining of nonferrous metals (except aluminum)
- Primary smelting of copper
- Primary smelting of nonferrous metals (except aluminum)
- Refining copper, primary
- Refining nonferrous metals and alloys (except aluminum), primary
- Rhenium refining, primary
- Selenium refining, primary
- Silver bullion or dore bar produced at primary metal refineries
- Silver refining, primary
- Slab, nonferrous metals (except aluminum) primary
- Smelting of nonferrous metals (except aluminum), primary
- Tantalum refining, primary
- Tellurium refining, primary