light industry

Economy-And-Finanzas

2022

We explain what light industry is, where it is located, its characteristics and examples. Also, differences with heavy industry.

Light industry produces goods ready to be consumed.

What is light industry?

The light industry or consumer goods industry encompasses those activities that produce goods destined for the final consumer. It differs from other industrial activities such as obtaining the raw material and of the heavy industry, which produces other types of goods.

Unlike heavy industries, light industries are economic activities that involve less consumption of Energy, lower proportions of processed or semi-processed materials and also a much lower environmental impact. Therefore, they can develop within the cities and even around residential areas, which is not usually the case with heavy ones.

The most important light industries are usually:

  • Food and drinks.
  • Footwear, textiles and clothing.
  • Tobacco.
  • Books, magazines and newsprint.
  • Medicines
  • Cosmetics
  • electronics.

Light Industry Characteristics

Unlike heavy, light industry produces consumer goods, that is, products that go directly to your consumer end through the marketing chain. For this reason they are included in the secondary sector of the society and of the productive chain, since their products are usually consumed at a fast and constant rate.

Obviously this kind of industry it is much less intensive than heavy. Therefore, it requires relatively small amounts of capital, workforce and materials, the latter rarely being some type of raw raw material.

Examples of light industries

Light industry includes the manufacture of everyday items.

Some examples of light industries are:

  • The electronics manufacturing industries, such as cell phones, remote controls, cameras, computers, etc.
  • The food industries, which produce canned, packaged and bottled or "tetra-brick" drinks.
  • The automotive or vehicle parts manufacturing industries.
  • The printers.
  • Joineries, furniture factories and plumbing parts.

Main countries with light industry

Light industry is much more democratically distributed in the world than heavy industry. Countries as different economically, socially and politically as Brazil, Guatemala, Canada, Peru, Argentina, the United States or Japan are manufacturing powers in various areas, which may tend to technology, textiles, beverages and food.

Many of its products, however, are consumed in its domestic market. For this reason, only the large producers of each category can dedicate themselves to flooding foreign markets with their merchandise, through exportation.

Heavy industry

Unlike light industry, dedicated entirely to the consumer, heavy industry deals with the transformation of raw materials into products that will later be used by other industries. It can be dedicated to the manufacture of semi-finished materials or machinery.

In some cases, these industries include direct extraction from the environment, and in other cases they obtain the raw material from the extractive industries. For example, a metallurgical company that manufactures machinery may buy the metal from another business or even import it from another country.

Heavy industry is essential to offer inputs to other subsequent industrial processes. For this reason, they are located in the primary sector of the production chain and are often called "basic industries", since they are at the base of the economy.

However, this type of industry is generally accompanied by a environmental impact tremendous, which is why it is not usually tolerated in residential areas or even within cities. That is why they are usually located directly at the source of the exploited resource, and in any case away from any population vulnerable.

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