SIC 3274 Lime

Contenidos

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

SIC 3274

The lime industry is comprised of establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing quick-lime, hydrated lime, and miscellaneous lime-related products. It is considered part of the larger concrete, gypsum, and plaster products industry.

NAICS CODE(S)

327410

Lime Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Lime, or quick-lime, is calcium oxide derived from naturally occurring calcium carbonate. Its total production in the United States ranked fifth among all chemicals. Lime is produced at 85 establishments, the majority of which were small operations. The total value of product shipments in 2003 exceeded $994.3 million. Total industry employment that year was 3,634.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

One of the oldest products of chemical reaction known to man, lime is a white or grayish-white solid with numerous applications. Its history dates to ancient Egypt, where it was used in mortar and plaster. Lime was traditionally used as a construction product until the Industrial Revolution, when its usage began expanding. The growth of the chemical industry at the start of the twentieth century gave lime production another boost and, of that produced, an estimated 90 percent is used in some sort of chemical process. Solid lime, for example, is used extensively as a fertilizer and building material. It is also commonly utilized as a chemical neutralizer to treat solid and gaseous wastes. Quick-lime accounted for approximately 72 percent of industry revenues in the early 1990s.

When mixed with water, lime turns into calcium hydroxide, or slaked lime, which is used to make mortars, plasters, and cement. Lime is also used to make calcium carbide, which decomposes in water to form the flammable acetylene gas used in welding torches.

Blast furnace operators and steel manufacturers consume the largest amounts of lime products to melt and process steel. Steel production usage, the traditional driving force in this industry, consumed about 31 percent of industry output in 1994. Total use in chemical and industrial applications represented 64 percent of the lime market. Chemical firms, for example, use lime-related products in the production of plastic resins. Environmental uses, such as water, sewage, and smokestack emissions treatment, accounted for 26 percent of lime usage in 1994, and construction...