Cordage and Twine

In this $842 million industry, 144 establishments producing rope, cordage, and twine products in 2007. The industry employed approximately 4,000 people, 73 percent of whom were production workers. States with the largest concentrations of businesses in this category included California, Florida, and Texas, according to Dun and Bradstreet's 2009 Industry Reports.

Generally speaking, cordage and twine plants are not as modern as other textile producers. Most serve niche markets with closely controlled product specifications. Historically, the marine industry has constituted one of the largest markets for this category. During the mid-1990s, though, that market declined when boat sales dropped because of a new luxury tax that was levied on that industry. After a brief peak during the booming economic years of the late 1990s, the market declined again in the early 2000s when the U.S. economy slipped into a recession.

Almost all cordage and twine makers buy their yarn from yarn mills. Two or more strands of yarn are then twisted (plied) a certain number of turns per inch. Depending on the intended use for the product, cabling follows the twisting process. Cabling is similar to twisting except that where twisting involves wrapping several single strands of yarn together, cabling wraps several strands of plied yarns together. The cabling continues until the proper size of twine, cord, or rope is developed.

One of the largest of the establishments in this industry in the late 2000s was Wirerope Works Inc. of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which was created when Williamsport Wirerope Works and Paulsen Wire Rope merged in 2004. Another industry leader was WireCo WorldGroup (formerly Wire Rope Corporation of America Inc.) of Kansas City, Missouri, with about 2,000 employees. Sackner Products (a division of Jason Inc. based in Grand Rapids, Michigan) had 300 employees and estimated annual sales of $55 million. Other leaders included Lehigh Group of Macungie, Pennsylvania, which was acquired by Jarden Corp. in 2003; Mitchellace Inc. of Portsmouth, Ohio, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2002; Columbian Rope Co. of Tulepo, Mississippi; and Fitec International Inc. of Memphis, Tennessee.

Imports from abroad continued to pose a challenge to the industry into the late 2000s. For example, China's exports of cordage and twine increased to $73 million in 2005, up from $53 million in 2004. In addition, output in U.S. textile mills continued to fall, decreasing 12.1 percent in 2007; industry participants such as the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition attributed the decline to the flood of subsidized imports, especially those from China. According to the U.S. Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel, total textile and apparel imports from China to the United States rose 867 percent by volume between 2001 and 2007.