Secondary activities

The essentials

Secondary activities add value to natural resources by transforming raw materials into more useful products. Manufacturing literally means "making by hand", but today it includes goods made by machines. Modern large-scale manufacturing involves specialisation of skills, mechanisation, technological innovation, organisational structure and uneven geographical concentration.

Industries tend to locate where costs are lowest. Factors include access to market, raw material, labour supply, sources of energy, transportation and communication, government policy and agglomeration economies (benefits from being near other industries).

Key points

• By size: household or cottage industries (smallest; artisans at home using local materials, e.g. pottery, handloom), small-scale industries (workshop outside home, local raw material, simple power-driven machines), large-scale industries (big market, many raw materials, huge energy, advanced technology).
• By inputs: agro-based (food processing, sugar, pickles, fruit juices, beverages, spices, oils, textiles, rubber, leather), mineral-based (iron and steel from ferrous minerals; aluminium, copper and jewellery from non-ferrous minerals; cement and pottery from non-metallic minerals), chemical-based, forest-based (paper, furniture, lac) and animal-based (leather, wool).
• By output: basic industries make products used to make other goods (e.g. iron and steel used for machinery); consumer goods industries make goods directly used by consumers.
• By ownership: public sector, private sector and joint sector.
• Footloose industries can locate in a wide variety of places, as they are not dependent on a specific raw material; they use components that can be obtained anywhere and generally cause less pollution.
• High-tech industries use intensive research and development; planned clusters are called technopolis, such as Silicon Valley near San Francisco.
• Agri-business is commercial farming on an industrial scale, often financed by businesses mainly outside agriculture.

Exam tips

Learn one example for each class of industry. Ask yourself: is this product used to make other goods (basic) or used directly (consumer)?

Common mistakes

Agro-processing is a secondary activity even though its raw material comes from agriculture.