SIC 3339 Primary Smelting and Refining of Nonferrous Metals, Except Copper and Aluminum

Contenidos

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

SIC 3339

This classification covers establishments primarily engaged in smelting and refining nonferrous metals, except copper and aluminum. Establishments primarily engaged in rolling, drawing, and extruding these nonferrous primary metals are classified in SIC 3356: Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous Metals, Except Copper and Aluminum, and the production of bullion at the site of the mine is classified in various mining classifications.

NAICS CODE(S)

331419

Primary Smelting and Refining of Nonferrous Metals (except Copper and Aluminum)

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

This industry supplies nonferrous metals for further consumption to secondary smelting and refining establishments. The metals refined include antimony, babbitt, beryllium, bismuth, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, columbium, germanium, gold, iridium, lead, magnesium, nickel, platinum, rhenium, selenium, silicon, silver, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, zinc, and zirconium. These metals are extracted from their ores and poured into basic shapes, such as slabs, pig molds, or ingots.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly 140 establishments operate in this category. Industry-wide employment totaled 7,026 workers receiving a payroll of more than $368 million in 2005. Within this workforce, 4,639 of these employees worked in production, putting in 10.2 million hours to earn an average hourly wage of $19.51. Overall shipments for the industry were valued at more than $3.633 billion in 2005, up from $2.5 billion in 2003 but close to the 1997 high of $3.7 billion.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

In its March 1999 issue, E-MJ—Engineering and Mining Journal reported on the market status of many of the metals in this industry, including cobalt, lead, nickel, and zinc. Lead experienced increased consumption due to steady demand for lead acid batteries. The lead market had been depressed in the early 1990s, recovering in the mid-1990s. Lead prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) averaged 28 cents per pound in 1995 and 1997, peaking in 1996 to 35 cents per pound; the price continued to fall to 24 cents per pound in 1998. Seventy percent of domestic lead production, however, occurred at secondary smelters, which primarily recycled lead acid batteries, which left only 30 percent of production for primary smelters.

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