SIC 3624 Carbon and Graphite Products

Contenidos

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

SIC 3624

This category covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing carbon, graphite, and metal-graphite brushes and brush stock; carbon or graphite electrodes for thermal and electrolyticuses; carbon and graphite fibers; and other carbon, graphite, and metal-graphite products.

NAICS CODE(S)

335991

Carbon and Graphite Product Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Carbon and graphite products manufacturing establishments were responsible for shipments worth approximately $1.72 billion in 2002. During the 1990s, the total value of shipments peaked at $2.34 billion in 1997; the lowest total value for the decade was $1.16 billion in 1990. In the mid-2000s the industry continued to be challenged by a slowly growing economy, price pressures, and demand problems.

The lackluster performance of the industry from the 1980s through the late 1990s was attributed to the effect of several economic forces that created product oversupply and excess industry capacity. One of the main causes cited for almost two decades of industry stagnation was the decline of the steel industry, a prime market for the industry's products. In addition, world demand for carbon and graphite electrodes plummeted, due to the development of more efficient electrode performance in steel production. This decline in demand, coupled with the strength of the dollar in the 1980s and early 1990, allowed rival foreign producers to increase their profitability in the U.S. market, which adversely affected the industry's output and profitability.

Structural changes in the industry led to a rebound in the late 1990s, including growth in some export markets. Although the industry was a perennial net importer of carbon and graphite products, the volume of carbon and graphite exports continued to increase steadily throughout the late 1990s.

In the early and mid-2000s, the carbon and graphite industry declined as the overall economy suffered from recessive conditions. Additionally, the steel industry in particular was hard hit, and as a result, the carbon and graphite industry also suffered. Although revenues had remained relatively stable during the late 1990s, with total shipment values consistently exceeding $2.0 billion annually, in 2001 total shipment values fell to $1.77 billion, falling again in 2002 to $1.72 billion.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

In 2002 approximately 129 establishments were engaged in the production of carbon and graphite products. Of that total, 15 percent of the companies employed between 100 and 249 workers, which was the largest revenue-producing category, accounting for nearly 50 percent of total shipment values in 2002. Establishments with 50 to 99 employees shipped 22 percent of the industry's goods, and the five companies that...