The main branches of light industry in Russia

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

In the complex of consumer goods, light industry is not the last. This branch specializes in the production of fabrics, clothing, footwear, etc. In addition to ready-to-use products, the light industry produces semi-finished products, blanks and materials for other enterprises. For example, it can be tires, filter materials, cores for steel ropes.

Existing branches of light industry in Russia are located in different cities. There are several large centers of such productions. Scientific developments are constantly underway here, numerous new sub-sectors are emerging.

General characteristics

Modern light industry is an industry that provides the production of goods for mass consumption. This area of human activity includes a full cycle of manufacturing products. It starts with the extraction of raw materials and ends with the sale of ready-to-use products.

This industry operates to provide the required level ofindicators of the supply of products that are massively consumed by the people. The number of finished products must fully satisfy the demand of the population for them.

All sectors that are part of the light industry can be divided into 3 groups. The first of these includes enterprises for the manufacture of raw materials. The second group includes production facilities that produce blanks and semi-finished products. They function to provide their products to both light industry enterprises and other industries. The third group includes the production of final products.

Raw light industries in Russia carry out processing of skins, extraction of cotton, and semi-finished production includes spinning, textile work. The branches of the final production of products specialize in the production of shoes, clothing, carpets, etc. The enterprises of this group occupy the majority of all light industry industries.

Features

Food and light industries occupy the lion's share in the production of consumer goods. They have a significant impact on the entire economy of the country.

Light industry has a number of features. Its production facilities of the first group, which specialize in the extraction of raw materials, are located close to the centers of its concentration. In the process of manufacturing the final product, individual stages of the cycle can occur in different factories. Full cycle enterprises are rare here.

Great attention is paid to finishing processes. The appearance of the product plays an important role. Therefore, to the recruitmentrelevant requirements (e.g., taste) apply.

Enterprises in this field of activity are usually small in size. They work dynamically, constantly changing their assortment. This is due to constant changes in fashion, consumer preferences. Women are predominantly employed in these industries. The final consumer is predominantly a natural person. These features are taken into account in the process of organizing production cycles.

Prospects for investment

Food and light industries in our country have great potential for investment. This is due to the presence of a large number of unused production capacities. It is also beneficial for investors to invest their funds in such production due to the high turnover of investments and their quick return. In addition, the industries represented do not require significant capital investments. It is possible to complete more than two complete turnover cycles per year. It also speaks of the benefits of investing.

You can mount equipment in just a few months. Therefore, in the first year of operation, such enterprises can make a profit. Investors can invest their temporarily free funds in more than 30 different sub-sectors. Many of them are quite new and very promising.

The raw material base for light industry in our country is well developed. It fully satisfies the needs of enterprisesin wool, linen, man-made threads and fibers, leather and fur. Raw materials are supplied by enterprises of agriculture, chemical industry. Its cost is acceptable. This allows us to produce products that are affordable for different categories of consumers.

The light industry economy provides a number of opportunities for investors. Doing business in this direction is promising.

Structure

The main branches of light industry include more than 30 different sub-sectors. They are conditionally combined into 3 main groups. The first one is the textile industry. This group includes cotton and linen production. It also includes enterprises in the wool, knitwear and silk sub-sectors. The enterprises of this group specialize in the primary processing of raw materials, the production of various types of materials (woven, non-woven).

The clothing industry belongs to the second group of industries. It specializes in the processing of fabrics and other materials of the textile industry, leather, fur, etc. This category includes both enterprises with a stable assortment (manufacturing of workwear) and more complex, dynamic industries (tailoring of designer clothes). This is a rather heterogeneous group. Its enterprises are very diverse and have different principles of location.

The third group includes fur, leather, footwear sub-sectors. The productions of this direction closely cooperate with each other.

Accommodation Features

The main branches of the food and light industry do not have a clearly defined specialization in territorial terms. In almost all regions there are certain productions of this group. However, in the textile industry, the main areas of concentration of enterprises can still be identified.

Thus, the Tver and Ivanovo regions produce a fairly large number of cotton products. If we consider the Central Economic Region, we can draw conclusions about the concentration of these industries here.

More than 55% of all cotton fabrics are produced in the Ivanovo region. Significantly fewer such industries are concentrated in the Moscow (11%) and Vladimir regions (7%). Directly in Moscow, 6% of all cotton fabrics in this region are produced.

The main factors in the placement of light industry sectors are practically no different from other areas of activity. They most often complement the complex of the national economy, and also satisfy the needs within the regions.

Accommodation factors

There is no unanimous opinion on the location of production facilities of the represented industry. However, there are three main groups of factors influencing this process. Light industries can be located taking into account the concentration of raw materials, consumers or labor resources. Previously, enterprises in this sphere of the national economy were highly dependent on the location of energy enterprises. Today, thanks to the availability of this resource, this factor has becomeminor.

The consumer factor affects the enterprises producing raw materials. Their products are sometimes poorly transported over long distances. Therefore, such enterprises are concentrated near the factories processing raw materials.

Also, primary processing enterprises are located near cotton extraction centers, livestock farms, etc. This significantly reduces production costs and increases its profitability.

Labor is also an important factor in the location of enterprises. The overwhelming majority of these workers are women. Therefore, it is advisable to build factories of the presented specialization in areas with heavy industry enterprises. They predominantly employ men. This allows the most efficient use of the labor resources of the region.

Textile industry

Textile production is the largest of the light industries. It specializes in the production of fabrics for the population and other industries (footwear, clothing, food industry, engineering, etc.).

The leading sub-sector here is the cotton industry. It is focused on imported natural raw materials (supplying countries of Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Syria).

The linen industry is also an important part of the textile industry. In its structure, the production of technical fabrics is more important than household products.

The first place in the textile industry in terms of gross production is occupied by enterprises bywool processing. This is due to the high cost of raw materials. The cost of fixed assets is higher only in the cotton industry. Such enterprises produce both threads, fabrics, and finished products.

The silk industry is ¾ of the mills. They specialize in cocoon winding, weaving, spinning, finishing operations. Fabrics and threads can be made from natural, artificial fibers, as well as a mixture of different types of threads.

Clothing industry

The clothing industry of light industry is considered one of the most material-intensive industries. The cost of raw materials here can be up to 80%. Further processing of fabrics, linens, knitwear, artificial leather and fur takes place here.

This industry processes about 4/5 of all household materials. This is a heterogeneous industry. In its structure, simple productions are distinguished, the assortment of which does not change for a long time. They specialize in the production of workwear. More complex industries are concentrated in large cities. Their assortment is constantly changing under the influence of fashion trends.

In recent years, enterprises of the domestic clothing industry have been cooperating with foreign companies. A high level of professional training and low labor costs help to attract foreign manufacturers. Domestic productions improve the quality of their own products. Adopting the experience of world manufacturers, garment factories began to producecompetitive products that can be supplied to the world market.

Apparel industry enterprises are evenly distributed throughout Russia. They are defined in almost every region. Such products usually provide local demand for clothing and other products.

Leather, footwear industry

The products of the light industry would be incomplete without leather, footwear and fur products. It processes natural and artificial leather, fur, sheepskin, film materials. Shoes, leather goods, clothes, etc. are produced.

In terms of the number of products produced, our country ranks 8th in the world. This figure has declined somewhat in recent years. Fur production has no analogues in the world. It is export oriented.

The leading role in the industry is the production of shoes, as well as leather finishing. Also in this area of management, artificial materials are used. In this direction of production, the North-Western and Central economic regions are leading. The largest enterprises of the sub-sector are concentrated here. Most of them are in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The footwear industry is characterized by high material and labor intensity. It is important for this sub-sector to strengthen its own raw material base. The cost of imported semi-finished products and materials is constantly rising. This entails the production of expensive, non-competitive products on the world market.

Leather goods are presented asbags, gloves, cases, as well as balls and other products.

Industry Issues

The economy of the light industry sector has several constraints. Despite the fact that the dynamics of production growth is positive, the products of domestic enterprises account for only 20% of the total turnover. This is due to several factors.

The wages of qualified specialists are quite low. This entails a loss of interest among young people in the professions of the industry. As a result, the quality of the final product is reduced, which becomes uncompetitive even in the domestic market.

In the structure of fixed assets, more than 50% is occupied by obsolete equipment. It has been in operation for more than 10 years, which does not allow to increase the turnover of products, to manufacture modern products. In developed countries, the rate of obsolescence of fixed assets does not exceed the threshold of 15%.

Lack of investment prevents the industry from expanding and developing new technologies. These are most often small factories that produce products for a small number of consumers.

Practically in every significant branch of light industry there is monopolization. It is extremely difficult for new enterprises to deal with them. Without proper support from the government, the development of light industry in our country is extremely problematic. It is required to allocate subsidies and grants to new enterprises, to prevent the emergence of a monopoly in all sub-sectors. Increased investment will encourage equipment upgrades andproduction technologies. This will help domestic enterprises enter the world market and produce competitive products.

Having considered the main branches of light industry, as well as their features, we can draw conclusions about the development of this sphere of national production. Existing problems and constraints should be eliminated by law and by attracting investment capital from domestic and foreign investors.