heavy industry

Economy-And-Finanzas

2022

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

Heavy industry plants occupy large spaces and require a lot of energy.

What is heavy industry?

Heavy industry or basic industry is the set of economic activities of extraction and primary transformation of the raw material. Manufactures the necessary supplies for other industries and in many cases it is the first rung of the industrial production chain. In this it distinguishes itself from other industries such as light industry, typical of the secondary sector of the chain.

They are the productive activity that investment in capitals, Energy and labor requires, in addition to being generally the one that a greater environmental impact causes, either directly or indirectly. Its name comes from the fact that its products are usually large in volume or size (such as machinery) and require huge facilities.

According to their areas of dedication, heavy industries can be classified into:

  • Mining or extractive industries. They source raw materials directly from environment, generally from the subsoil.
  • Cement companies. Producers of rock sediments and other minerals, as well as mixtures of them.
  • Iron and steel companies. That they process metals and non-ferrous minerals to create alloys.
  • Chemical industry. In charge of producing and processing chemical substances using controlled techniques.

Heavy industry characteristics

Heavy industry is one of the central economic activities of the economy world in the present times, and was fundamental for the technological take-off of the humanity.

Today this activity is carried out through processes with a high degree of mechanization and specialized labor. It consumes huge amounts of Energy and leaving its mark on the environment, which is why it is an activity that has many detractors.

Heavy industries carry out tasks of a different nature, which allow the raw material to be separated from the elements that naturally surround it, or to transform it through physical or chemical procedures into some type of useful and transportable substance. For this they can resort to smelting, freezing, washing, supercritical drying, liquefaction, etc.

Examples of heavy industry

The metallurgical industry melts metals to make various products.

Some clear examples of heavy industries are:

  • The mining industries. That capture and transport minerals with some desired chemical content (gold, silver, nickel, etc.), or hydrocarbons As the Petroleum, the natural gas or mineral coal.
  • The large steel companies. In charge of smelting heavy metals and their alloys to form steels, irons and other useful forms in light industry.
  • The cement companies. That grind lime and other materials to form mixtures dry used in the construction sector.
  • The loggers. They cut down huge trees of useful or precious wood, which they transport after they have been felled, cut and processed properly.
  • The petrochemical industry. In which oil is refined and subjected to chemical procedures that allow it to obtain numerous derivatives, such as plastics, the nylon, gasoline, etc.

Main countries with heavy industry

The main heavy industries on the planet correspond to the nations most developed countries on the planet, such as the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Russia and Germany, along with emerging nations such as Brazil.

However, many nations of the so-called Third World, whose economies depend largely on the extraction and commercialization of raw materials, invest more than anything in their basic industries. Among them are Venezuela, Nigeria, Peru, Chile, among others.

Light industry

The light or light industry differs from the heavy or basic in that it is dedicated to the manufacture or production of consumer objects, objects that will go directly to the consumer. These industries usually belong to the secondary sector of the productive chain. In general they are less intensive and ecologically risky than heavy industry.

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