SIC 3366 Copper Foundries

Contenidos

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

SIC 3366

This industry consists of companies primarily engaged in manufacturing copper and copper-alloy castings, except die-castings. Establishments that produce copper castings and also are engaged in fabricating operations for a specific product are classified in the industry of the specific product. Therefore, some of the companies considered to be a part of the copper foundry industry are not included in this classification, although some of the statistics covering the copper foundry industry do include these "captive" foundry departments of manufacturers.

NAICS CODE(S)

331525

Copper Foundries

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

Copper processing actually has many divisions, including such diverse activities as mining, smelting, refining, and fabricating. Copper is mined and refined before alloys are added to it. Copper and copper alloys are sold to fabricators who create such products as forgings, rods, bars, and tubes that are used in the construction industry, telecommunications industry, and in various manufacturing industries.

Copper is renowned for its corrosion resistance, electrical and thermal conductivity, machinability, color, and ease of finishing. Foundries combined copper with several other elements to create alloys with a wide range of qualities. Copper-based castings are strong and corrosion-resistant, making them essential as a basic tool in the building, plumbing, and automobile industries.

Foundries cast copper in many different ways. The most common of these are sand casting, centrifugal casting, continuous casting, investment casting, permanent mold casting, and shell mold casting. Sand casting, in which molten metal is poured into a sand mold, is the most widely used method of producing large quantities of copper and copper alloy castings. Because the cost of the sand mold patterns is usually reasonably low and sand is an incredibly reusable and then recyclable resource, this method of casting is ideal.

Centrifugal casting consists of pouring molten metal into a revolving or rotating mold, which in turn holds the molten metal against the wall by centrifugal force. This method is often utilized for casting bearings, gears, or machinery pieces. In a continuous casting system, molten copper alloy is fed through an open-ended mold to yield bar, tube, or other shaped cables.

Investment casting—also called precision casting—has an extensive history that predates the Egyptian pyramids. In the late twentieth century, it was still used to produce decorative copper applications and aircraft parts.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 312...