Major Industries

Major industries of the world include the following:

(1). Steel Industry

(2). Textile Industry

(3). Chemical Industry

(4). Petroleum Industry

(1). Steel Industry:

In the present modern world, iron and steel play important role in the development and progress of a nation. Steel and cement are essential parts of the multi-storey buildings, towers, bridges, ships, railway engines, wagons, buses, trucks and other structures. All the developed countries have thriving steel industries. Presently, China is the leading steel producing country followed by EU, Japan, USA, Russian Federation, India, South Korea, Germany, Ukraine, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, Taiwan and France.

(2). Textile Industry:

Textile industry is based on cotton and its products. Presently, the main cotton producing countries include China, India, USA, Pakistan, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Australia and Turkey. Main cotton products which have great demand in the world markets are cotton cloth, bed sheets, towels, mats and garments. Most of the cotton producing nations have their own well developed textile industries. For example, India, USA, China, Pakistan and Japan earn billions of dollars by exporting textile goods. Out of these, Japan, Taiwan, Russia and South Korea are outstanding because they import cotton and cotton yarn from other nations but manufacture textile goods and earn sizeable foreign exchange.

(3). Chemical Industry:

During the last 100 years, the chemical industry has become and integral part of growing economies of the world. This industry produces about 75 thousand different products from the raw materials such as oil, gas, coal, metals, Sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen, water and minerals. Major products of chemical industry include polythylene, polyprophylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, petrochemicals, agrochemicals, polymers, explosives, polymers and fragrances. Details of these products are given as under:

(4). Petroleum Industry:

Petroleum or Crude Oil is the main raw material of the petroleum industry. At international level, the petroleum industry explores, extracts, refine and sells petroleum products.

• Oil Producing Nations: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Norway, Venezuela, Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Mexico, Angola, Kazakhstan and Canada are the top oil producing countries. These countries export millions of barrels of either refined or crude oil per day.
• Oil Consuming Countries: The biggest consumers of oil are USA, China, Japan, Germany, S.Korea, France, India, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, Netherland, Singapore, Belgium, Turkey and Pakistan.
• OPEC: Organization of petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) was established in 1960. Presently, it consists of 12 countries viz. Algeria, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Venezuela. headquarter of OPEC is located in Vienna since 1965. According to a recent survey, the OPEC accounts for two third of world’s total oil reserves and 33 percent of production.

Also Read:

Manufacturing and Its features

Factors controlling IndustriesManufacturing Industry

Factors Controlling Industrial Location

Max Weber’s Theory of Industrial Location