| SIC Codes: | 3316 3317 3321 3324 3325 3331 3334 3339 3341 3351 3353 3354 3355 3356 3363 3364 3365 3366 3369 2819 3312 3313 3315 |
| NAICS Codes: | 331110 331313 331318 331410 331420 331523 331529 331491 331492 331511 331512 331513 331524 331315 331210 331221 331222 331314 |
Companies in this industry engage in smelting and refining of ferrous and nonferrous metals and include iron and steel mills, rolled steel shape manufacturers, aluminum producers, and copper foundries. Large companies include Alcoa, ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg), Baosteel (China), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Nucor, Nippon Steel and JFE (Japan), POSCO (South Korea), Rio Tinto Alcan (Canada), Rusal (Russia), Tata Steel (India), and US Steel.
Demand comes largely from the manufacturers of durable goods like motor vehicles, machinery, containers, and construction steel. The profitability of individual companies depends largely on efficient operations, because most products are commodities sold based on price. Big companies have large economies of scale in production. Accordingly, most producers of secondary products buy raw metal from the large producers. Small companies can compete by operating efficient local mini-mills or producing specialty products. The US industry is concentrated: the 50 largest companies generate more than 60 percent of revenue.
Major sources of revenue for the industry include steel mill products such as sheets, bars, and plates. Other activities include aluminum sheet, plate, and foil manufacturing; copper rolling, drawing, and extruding; and the production of shapes from iron, steel, and specialty metals such as titanium, molybdenum, and beryllium.
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