312230 Tobacco Manufacturing

Official definition

This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in (1) stemming and redrying tobacco and/or (2) manufacturing cigarettes or other tobacco products.

Examples Census gives

• Chewing tobacco manufacturing
• Cigar manufacturing
• Cigarettes manufacturing (except electronic)
• Snuff manufacturing
• Prepared pipe tobacco manufacturing
• Tobacco leaf processing and aging

Source: US Census Bureau, 2022 NAICS descriptions.

When to use a different code

Census classifies these close-sounding activities somewhere else. Businesses mainly engaged in:

• Manufacturing tobacco pipes or electronic cigarettes are classified in U.S. Industry 339999, All Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing.
• Manufacturing electronic cigarette vapor liquids, including closed refills are classified in U.S. Industry 325998, All Other Miscellaneous Chemical Product and Preparation Manufacturing.
• Selling leaf tobacco as merchant wholesalers that also engage in stemming tobacco are classified in Industry 424940, Tobacco Product and Electronic Cigarette Merchant Wholesalers.
• Selling leaf tobacco as agents or brokers that also engage in stemming tobacco are classified in Industry 425120, Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers.

Source: US Census Bureau, 2022 NAICS cross-references.

Activities listed under 312230

The Census index assigns these 13 activities to this code. If your business matches one, this is your code.

• Chewing tobacco manufacturing
• Cigar manufacturing
• Cigarettes manufacturing
• Imitation tobacco cigarettes, manufacturing
• Pipe tobacco, prepared, manufacturing
• Reconstituting tobacco
• Smoking tobacco (e.g., cigarette, pipe) manufacturing
• Snuff manufacturing
• Tobacco leaf processing and aging
• Tobacco products (e.g., chewing, smoking, snuff) manufacturing
• Tobacco products, imitation, manufacturing
• Tobacco sheeting services
• Tobacco stemming and redrying

Source: US Census Bureau, 2022 NAICS index file.

SBA size standard for 312230

To count as a small business for SBA loans and federal contracts under NAICS 312230, your business (including affiliates) must not exceed 1,500 employees. Check your business.

Source: SBA table of size standards, effective March 17, 2023.

Closest UK SIC 2007 codes

There is no official one-to-one link between NAICS and UK SIC. These codes share the same international class (ISIC Rev. 4: 1200), so treat them as a starting point and check the definition.

• 12000Manufacture of tobacco productsUK SIC

Built from Census concordances 2022→2017 NAICS and 2017 NAICS→ISIC Rev. 4.