Analysis
NAICS 331420 is the 2022 national industry for copper rolling, drawing, extruding, and alloying, part of 33142 (Copper Rolling, Drawing, Extruding, and Alloying). Census lists 49 example activities under it in the official index.
County Business Patterns counts 211 US establishments in this code in 2023, employing 25,555 people at an average annual payroll of $78,043 per employee (66th percentile of national industries). 5% of the establishments have fewer than five employees, which points to larger operations.
Census lists 8 related activities that belong elsewhere, most often in 331410, 33261, 331523 and 331491. 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.
Between 2018 and 2023 the number of establishments fell 10% and employment rose 2%. 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 aircraft and automotive wire or cable made from purchased…, alloying purchased copper, alloying purchased copper metals and apparatus wire or cord made from purchased copper in wire…, among 49 in all.
Its goods appear in 67 statistical lines of the US tariff schedule, mostly under headings 7409 (copper plates, sheets and strip, of a thickness exceeding…), 7407 (copper bars, rods and profiles) and 7408 (copper wire). 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 one or more of the following: (1) recovering copper or copper alloys from scraps; (2) alloying purchased copper; (3) rolling, drawing, or extruding shapes (e.g., bar, plate, sheet, strip, tube, wire) from purchased copper; and (4) recovering copper or copper alloys from scrap and rolling, drawing, or extruding shapes (e.g., bar, plate, sheet, strip, tube, wire).
Source: US Census Bureau, NAICS 2022 Manual.
Not this code if…
| The business mainly does | Use instead |
|---|---|
| Smelting copper ore, primary copper refining, and/or rolling, drawing, or extruding primary copper made in the same establishment | 331410 Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Smelting and Refining |
| Manufacturing wire products from purchased copper wire | 33261 Spring and Wire Product Manufacturing |
| Die-casting purchased copper | 331523 Nonferrous Metal Die-Casting Foundries |
| Rolling, drawing, or extruding shapes from purchased nonferrous metals (except copper and aluminum) or recovering nonferrous metals (except copper and aluminum) from scrap and rolling, drawing, or extruding | 331491 Nonferrous Metal (except Copper and Aluminum) Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding |
| Recovering nonferrous metals (except copper, 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) |
| Insulating purchased copper wire | 335929 Other Communication and Energy Wire Manufacturing |
| 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 (49)
- Aircraft and automotive wire or cable made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Alloying purchased copper
- Alloying purchased copper metals
- Apparatus wire or cord made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Armored cable made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Armored cable, copper, made in integrated secondary smelting and drawing plants
- Bar, copper and copper alloy, made from purchased copper or in integrated secondary smelting and rolling, drawing or extruding plants
- Brass products, rolling, drawing, or extruding, made from purchased copper or in integrated secondary smelting and rolling, drawing or extruding plants
- Bronze products, rolling, drawing, or extruding, made from purchased copper or in integrated secondary smelting and rolling, drawing or extruding plants
- Cable, copper (e.g., armored, bare, insulated), made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Cable, copper (e.g., armored, bare, insulated), made in integrated secondary smelting and wire drawing plants
- Cartridge cups, discs, and sheets, copper and copper alloy, made from purchased copper or in integrated secondary smelting and rolling, drawing or extruding plants
- Coaxial cable, copper, made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Communications wire or cable, copper, made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Copper alloys (e.g., brass, bronze) made from purchased metal or scrap
- Copper and copper-based shapes (e.g., cake, ingot, slag, wire bar) made from purchased metal or scrap
- Copper foil made from purchased metal or scrap
- Copper powder, flakes, and paste made from purchased copper
- Copper products made by drawing purchased copper
- Copper products made by rolling, drawing, or extruding purchased copper
- Copper products made in integrated secondary smelting and extruding mills
- Copper products made in integrated secondary smelting mills and drawing plants
- Copper secondary smelting and alloying
- Copper secondary smelting and refining from purchased metal or scrap
- Cord sets, flexible, made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Energy wire or cable, copper, made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Foil, copper, made from purchased metal or scrap
- Insulated wire or cable made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Insulated wire or cable, copper, made in integrated secondary smelting and wire drawing plants
- Magnet wire, insulated, made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Mesh, wire, made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants
- Metal powder and flake made from purchased copper
- Paste made from purchased copper
- Pipe, extruded and drawn, brass, bronze, and copper, made from purchased copper or in integrated secondary smelting and rolling, drawing or extruding plants
- Plate, copper and copper alloy, made from purchased copper or in integrated secondary smelting and rolling, drawing or extruding plants
- Powder made from purchased copper
- Refining copper, secondary
- Rod, copper and copper alloy, made from purchased copper or in integrated secondary smelting and rolling, drawing or extruding plants
- Sheet, copper and copper alloy, made from purchased copper or in integrated secondary smelting and rolling, drawing or extruding plants
- Shipboard cable made from purchased copper in wire drawing plants