SIC 3313 Electrometallurgical Products, Except Steel

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT.
• BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT.
• CURRENT CONDITIONS.
• INDUSTRY LEADERS.
• WORKFORCE.
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 3313

This category includes establishments that manufacture metal additive alloys for both ferrous and nonferrous metals using electrometallurgical or metallothermic processes. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing electrometallurgical steel are classified in SIC 3312: Steel Works, Blast Furnaces (Including Coke Ovens), and Rolling Mills.

NAICS CODE(S)

331112

Electrometallurgical Ferroalloy Product Manufacturing

331492

Secondary Smelting, Refining, and Alloying of Nonferrous Metals (except Copper and Aluminum)

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

The following alloying metals are those most commonly used to enhance iron and steel: nickel, molybdenum, manganese, silicon, aluminum, phosphorus, calcium, sulfur, lead, and selenium. Tungsten carbide powder and spiegeleisen also are produced in this industry. Alloys have three main purposes: to eliminate undesired elements in a base metal; to add special characteristics, such as strength, heat resistance, and corrosion resistance; and to neutralize unwanted properties of a metal.

Electrometallurgical products firms were shipping about $968 million worth of products per year in the early 2000s. Nickel and molybdenum are the most common alloys produced in the industry. Nickel is used primarily to create stainless steel; molybdenum is used to strengthen steel for aerospace and other specialty steel applications. Specialty metals production accounts for about 65 percent of primary nickel consumption. About 75 percent of all molybdenum consumed in 1998 went into iron and steel, with major end-use applications as follows: machinery, 35 percent; electrical, 15 percent; and transportation, 15 percent.

In 2004, there were approximately 90 establishments employing about 3,201 workers. Combined, the value of shipments totaled $2,342.20 million. The average number of employees per establishment stood at 37, while generating about $35 million in sales. Electrometallurgical products represented the largest sector of industry shipments, with more than 32 percent of the total market. Metal additive alloys controlled more than 27 percent, while ferroalloys accounted for about 17 percent. States representing the majority of firms were Pennsylvania, California, New York, and Ohio. Together, they represented about 45 percent of total market share and sales.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

North American metal workers have been strengthening and enhancing iron and steel with alloys since the 1600s. Only since World War II, however, has the mining and production of the alloying metals emerged as a significant industry. Since that time, the federal government has promoted the extraction and processing of various ferrous and nonferrous alloys as a means of insuring reserves for national defense and security.

Demand for alloy metals surged from the 1950s through the 1970s, as the U.S. economy expanded and new alloying technologies broadened the industry's market. The auto and capital equipment industries, particularly, became major consumers of ferroalloys during that period. By the end of the 1970s, the electrometallurgical industry employed about 6,000 workers and was shipping about $700 million worth of products each year.

As maturing markets, high production costs, and metal substitutes reduced U.S. steel production in the 1980s, growth of alloy...