Chemical-based industries
Topic: Secondary Activities: Manufacturing and Industrial Location · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 5 "Secondary Activities"
Meaning
Chemical-based industries use chemicals as their raw material. These come in two forms. Some are natural chemical minerals, such as petroleum, salts, sulphur and potash. Others are chemicals obtained from wood and coal. These industries make products such as synthetic fibres and plastics. An important branch is the petrochemical industry, which turns crude oil and natural gas into plastics, synthetic fibres, synthetic rubber, fertilisers, dyes and drugs. Petrochemical plants usually cluster near oil refineries and ports.
Example
Jamnagar in Gujarat is a major petrochemical cluster built next to large oil refineries on the coast. Vadodara (Koyali) and Mumbai are other Indian centres. Houston on the US Gulf Coast is a world example.
Don't confuse with
- Mineral-based industries: these use metallic and non-metallic minerals such as iron ore, bauxite and limestone to make metals and cement, not chemical products.
Related concepts
- Agro-based industries
- Food processing
- Mineral-based industries
- Petrochemical industry
- Forest-based industries
- Animal-based industries