Factors of placement of branches of the scientific complex. Placement factors of the chemical industry

Placement of production (industries, Agriculture, transport, etc.) on the territory individual countries, regions and the whole world does not happen by chance, but under the influence of certain conditions. Those conditions that have a decisive influence on the choice of a place for the development of certain sectors of the economy or individual enterprises are called production location factors.

Depending on the quality characteristics and the origin of factors, the following main types are distinguished: raw materials, fuel, energy. labor, consumer, transport, environmental. As a rule, the location of specific industries is influenced not by one, but by several factors at the same time. Yes, many businesses chemical industry are placed taking into account energy and environmental factors. The influence of the energy factor here is due to the need to use a large amount of electricity to produce a unit of output: for example, for the production of synthetic fibers, plastics. The role of the environmental factor lies in the negative impact of many chemical industries on environment. Therefore, their placement in densely populated areas is not allowed, or increased requirements are imposed on technologies for cleaning harmful emissions. With the advent of new industries, the role of the environmental factor intensifies over time.

Characteristics of production location factors

The raw factor is understood as the location of enterprises near sources of raw materials to obtain certain products: near mineral deposits, large water bodies, in forest areas etc. The location of such industries near sources of raw materials excludes the transportation of large volumes and reduces the costs of enterprises. Therefore, production is organized as close as possible to the sources of raw materials. Finished products of enterprises will be cheaper due to lower costs for the delivery of raw materials. The raw material factor has a significant impact on the location of a number of industrial productions: for example, the production of potash fertilizers, cement, sawmilling, and enrichment of non-ferrous metal ores.

The fuel factor, like the raw material factor, has the same effect on the location of production. It is decisive in the location of industries that use large volumes of mineral fuels for the production of products: coal, natural gas, fuel oil. Such industries include heat power engineering, individual ferrous metallurgy, and the chemical industry. Thus, the most powerful thermal power plants in the USA, Russia, and China are built near large coal deposits. Many enterprises for the production of iron and steel are located near coal deposits.

The energy factor affects the location of industries in which the creation of a unit of production consumes a large number of predominantly electrical energy. Such industries are called energy intensive. These include the production of many light non-ferrous metals (aluminum, titanium, etc.), chemical fibers, and paper. Enterprises for the production of energy-intensive products are located in areas where mainly cheap electricity is produced in large volumes, for example, near large hydroelectric power plants.

The labor factor has a decisive influence on the location of industries based on the use of a large number of labor resources, including highly qualified specialists. These are labor intensive industries. For example, in light industry, such industries include clothing production. In agriculture, the most labor-intensive are rice growing, vegetable growing, fruit growing. The production of electronic equipment, personal computers involves the use of qualified personnel. Focused on the labor factor, these industries are located mainly in densely populated areas with cheap labor.

The consumer, or market, factor affects the location of industries that produce products that are in wide, sometimes everyday, demand among the population. These are food, clothes, shoes, Appliances and others. Such industries are consumer-oriented and are located in almost all large settlements.

The role of the transport factor is important for all industries whose products are not consumed at the place of production, but are delivered to other areas. All businesses are interested in reducing shipping costs finished products to areas of consumption. Therefore, many production facilities are located near large transport hubs, in seaports, on trunk lines. railways, oil pipelines. The Mozyr oil refinery was built next to the Druzhba oil pipeline.

When placing production great importance acquires environmental factor associated with environmental protection. This factor limits the creation of production if it can harm the environment. Higher environmental requirements are imposed on industries that are characterized by large emissions of pollutants or other harmful effects on the environment. They are not allowed to be placed in major cities and densely populated areas. These enterprises should use modern low-waste technologies and build emission treatment facilities.

IN modern conditions the role of the environmental factor is growing - it affects the location of all industries. It is most important to take into account the environmental factor when locating enterprises of the chemical industry, metallurgy, and energy, especially during the construction of nuclear power plants.

Labor-intensive activities include the production of electronic equipment, computers, clothing production, rice growing, vegetable growing, and fruit growing. In today's environment, everything greater value in the location of production plays an environmental factor.

The concept of "location factors" was introduced into scientific circulation by the German economist Alfred Weber (1909). Placement factors are considered to be a set of conditions for the most rational choice of the location of an economic object, a group of objects, an industry. The spatial orientation of industries and industries is formed under the combined influence of various factors and is characterized by a wide variety of options for locating individual enterprises. All the variety of factors influencing the location of production are combined into related groups. For example, natural factors, including economic evaluation natural conditions and resources for the development of individual industries and regions; economic factors, including measures for the protection of nature and its rational use of natural resources; demographic factors, which are understood as settlement systems, the provision of individual territories of the country with labor resources. The state of social infrastructure should also be attributed to important factors affecting the location of production. An important factor in the location of production is the scientific and technological revolution.

In the location of enterprises and institutions related to the service sector, the consumer factor is of paramount importance. To accommodate agriculture and extractive industries big influence provided by the natural conditions and resources of the territory.

The most difficult is the choice of the location option for enterprises in the manufacturing industry, since all location factors act simultaneously and collectively. With a variety of location factors affecting the location of manufacturing enterprises, it is of fundamental importance to divide them into natural (which determine the dependence of the geography of industry on natural conditions and resources) and socio-economic (which are based on the laws of social development).

Natural resource factors and conditions (gravitation to sources of raw materials - raw materials, fuel and energy - fuel, fuel and energy; climatic, hydrological orographic conditions) - their impact on the location of the economy is the stronger, the lower the level of development productive forces. In the early stages of industrialization, the geography of minerals largely determined the location of heavy industry (metallurgy, mechanical engineering, chemical industry), which was especially attracted to the basins. hard coal and iron ore.

In modern economic and economic-geographical literature, manufacturing industries, depending on the different orientation to one or another factor, are usually classified according to location factors. Thus, manufacturing industries are distinguished:

  • 1 - raw material orientation,
  • 2 - fuel orientation,
  • 3 - energy and fuel and energy orientation,
  • 4 - water consumer orientation,
  • 5 - consumer orientation,
  • 6 - orientation towards labor resources, including highly qualified personnel.

The weak point of this classification of manufacturing industries is that it is based on only one prevailing factor. When placing enterprises in many industries, as a rule, not one, but two or more factors are of significant importance.

The comparative value of individual factors depends on the technical, economic and technological specifics of production. Those factors that in some industries come to the fore, in others turn out to be secondary. If for non-ferrous metallurgy (except for the production of light metals) the raw material factor plays a decisive role, then in ferrous metallurgy it shares its influence with the fuel factor. When locating enterprises of mechanical engineering and light industry, it is necessary to take into account, first of all, the factors of consumption and work force.

Moreover, the same factor within a given industry, but on different stages technological process operates with unequal intensity.

For manufacturing industries, there is a system of technical and economic indicators that determine their placement. Among them:

  • 1. Specific costs of the main types of raw materials, fuel, heat and electricity, water per unit of finished product (the amount of raw materials, energy, water and other things required for the production of 1 unit, for example 1 ton, of products);
  • 2. Exit industrial waste per unit of production and their characteristics;
  • 3. Labor costs per unit of output;
  • 4. Specific costs of fixed assets.

The choice of options for locating an industrial enterprise is directly influenced by the ratio of the most important technical and economic indicators of production - from material consumption, labor intensity and capital intensity, as well as taking into account the consumer factor.

The material intensity of the industry is determined by the specific consumption of raw materials and basic materials for the production of products. In many industries, it significantly exceeds the weight of finished products.

An additional sign of the material intensity of production can be the share of raw material costs in the cost of industrial products. However, this indicator is rather conditional: its value depends on how expensive or cheap the raw materials used are.

According to the degree of material intensity of production, the following groups of industries are distinguished:

  • 1) highly material-intensive with a specific consumption of raw materials much more than one;
  • 2) average material consumption, where the specific consumption of raw materials is greater than or equal to one;
  • 3) non-material-intensive with a specific consumption of raw materials less than one.

Highly material-intensive industries have a pronounced raw material orientation, that is, their location is greatly influenced by the raw material factor. One should also take into account the large-tonnage volume of products of such industries, which leads to very high costs for their transportation to the consumer.

Based on the degree of energy intensity of production, there are three groups of industries:

  • 1) high energy-intensive, where the share of fuel and energy costs is 30-45% (significantly exceeding the costs of raw materials and materials), specific fuel and energy costs are maximum;
  • 2) medium or low energy-intensive, in which the share of fuel and energy costs is only 15-25%, while the specific fuel and energy costs are low;
  • 3) non-energy intensive, where fuel and energy costs are less than 6%, and the specific fuel and energy costs are minimal.

The fuel and energy factor is one of the most important factors in the location of many industries. High-energy-intensive industries are oriented towards mass and efficient fuel and energy resources. Industries of medium energy intensity also react to the fuel and energy factor, although its influence in this case does not determine the specifics of the location of production. A particularly large amount of fuel and energy is consumed by such industries as the production of ferroalloys, aluminum, magnesium, nickel, lead, electrolytic copper, synthetic ammonia, synthetic fibers, rubber, hydrolysis yeast

From the group natural factors The water factor has a great influence on the location of production. This is due to an increase in the capacity of enterprises and a general increase in the water intensity of production, associated primarily with the development of the chemical industry, where water is not only an auxiliary material, but also one of the important raw materials. The main criterion for water consumption is the consumption of fresh water per unit of finished product. Industry is considered to be a particularly large consumer of water; it consumes up to 40% of all water consumed by the economy.

The labor intensity of individual branches of industry can be judged by the expenditure of labor per unit of output, by the number of workers for a certain quantity of output, by the quantity of output per worker. An indicator of labor intensity is also such an indicator as the share wages in the cost of industrial production.

Typical labor-intensive industries that focus on the places where the labor force is concentrated are engineering (with the exception of metal-intensive industries), light industry (except primary processing agricultural raw materials) and upper floors chemical industry (production of rubber products, plastics, chemical fibers, etc.). The labor factor is important literally for all branches of industry, but its influence on location decreases as the labor intensity of production decreases, which is especially characteristic of the age of scientific and technological revolution.

Consumer factor in case of territorial disunity natural resources and the population acts in the opposite direction to raw materials and fuel and energy factors. Those industries that are usually engaged in servicing the population (production of fabrics, clothing, footwear, food products) or produce low-transportable products (compared to raw materials and fuel) tend to gravitate towards areas and centers of consumption. The role of the consumer factor is often enhanced by the labor force factor, since the places where the population is concentrated simultaneously act not only as sources of labor resources, but also as large areas for the consumption of industrial products.

As for the transport factor, it plays the role of a kind of focus, as if gathering the influence of other factors in the location of production. Determining the intensity of its influence, it is necessary to take into account the cost of raw materials (including auxiliary materials) and fuel per unit of output. If they exceed the weight of finished products, then industrial enterprises it is advantageous to place them near raw materials and fuel and energy bases, as this leads to a reduction in the volume transport work. On the contrary, in cases where the cost of raw materials and fuel is less than the weight of the finished product (for example, in the production of sulfuric acid, simple superphosphate, bread, pasta), the reduction in transportation is achieved through consumer orientation of enterprises. Finally, with an equal weight ratio of raw materials (as well as fuel) and finished products, production has the greatest freedom of location, gravitating to the extent of economic expediency either to raw materials and fuel and energy resources, or to areas of consumption or places of labor concentration.

The same industries and industries have different variants spatial orientation depending on the nature of the feedstock and the degree of its transportability (for example, the production of sulfuric acid from natural raw materials and waste from metallurgy and oil refining); the nature of the feedstock and the technological methods of its processing (for example, the production of nitrogen fertilizers by gasification of coal or coke, deep cooling of coke oven gas, conversion of natural gas, etc.); the comparative efficiency of transporting raw materials or fuel and finished products (for example, electricity generation at thermal power plants).

The influence of the principles of rational location of industry on a particular process of location is carried out through a number of factors. Factors for the placement of productive forces are a set of conditions for choosing the most rational placement of an economic object, a group of economic objects, sectoral or territorial structures of the economy of economic regions. They can be divided into four groups: natural and economic, technical and economic, economic and political factors, provision of areas vehicles and their technical level.

To the group natural and economic factors include the raw material factor, geographic environment, labor resources, consumption density.

1) Accounting for the raw material factor requires a deep study of the reserves, quality and economics of the use of raw materials, fuel and energy resources each region. According to the nature of the influence of the raw factor, all industries are divided into mining and manufacturing. In contrast to the mining industry, the influence of the raw material factor on the location of the manufacturing industry depends on the role of objects of labor in the economy of each industry, as well as on the consumer properties of products.

2) The geographic environment has a significant impact on the location of industry, i.e. climatic conditions, hydrological regime rivers, terrain. Climatic conditions have an impact on the location of industrial enterprises due to unequal working conditions and human life in different areas. In areas with unfavorable climatic conditions will be higher costs for the reproduction of labor force, capital investments in the construction of enterprises and the costs of their operation.

3) The location of industry is greatly influenced by the distribution of labor resources throughout the country. The labor factor is important for literally all industries, but its influence is reduced as the labor intensity of production decreases. The greater the labor intensity of production and the share of wages in the cost of production, the stronger the dependence of the location of production on the geography of labor resources and vice versa. At the same time, the structure and qualification composition of labor resources in certain regions of the country should be taken into account.

4) Consumption density, which is characterized by the size of the population's demand for a particular product, acts in the opposite direction to the raw material factor. Those branches that are usually engaged in servicing the population or producing low-transportable and perishable products usually gravitate towards areas and centers of consumption. The role of the consumer factor is often enhanced by the factor of labor resources, since the places where the population is concentrated are at the same time not only sources of labor, but also consumers of a significant amount of industrial products.


Technical and economic factors location of industry are represented by scientific and technological progress and rational forms of organization of production.

Scientific and technological progress makes it possible to deploy productive forces throughout the country, regardless of natural and climatic features districts. Scientific and technological progress is represented by such areas as electrification, integrated mechanization and automation, chemicalization and improvement technological processes.

The broad development of electrification, the creation of a unified energy system Russia and the transmission of electricity over long distances made it possible to involve in circulation the resources of regions that are deprived of fuel and hydropower reserves. Integrated mechanization and automation have a great influence on the location of labor-intensive industries: they allow production to be organized in areas that do not have a sufficient population, but have natural resources and conditions that make it possible to obtain cheap products. Chemicalization expands raw material base many industries and allows for a more uniform distribution of industry across the country.

In close connection with scientific and technological progress is public organization production, which appears in such forms as concentration, specialization, cooperation and combination.

The concentration of production has an impact on location, primarily because of the need for large enterprises to have powerful raw materials and fuel and energy bases, a wide range of suppliers and consumers. For large enterprises, it becomes much more difficult to choose their locations and industrial sites, measures to create infrastructure, etc.

The specialization of production, depending on its types, has a different effect on the location of industry. Thus, subject specialization in a certain way localizes industrial enterprises.

Detailed specialization makes it possible to orient the placement of material-intensive parts and assemblies to areas where raw materials and materials are produced, labor-intensive parts to areas where labor is concentrated, and the frilling of finished products to areas of consumption.

Technological specialization affects the weakening of the dependence of manufacturing industries on raw material bases.

Cooperation operates in the opposite direction of specialization. If specialization leads to the territorial division of a single production process, i.e. causes differentiation of production, then cooperation, on the contrary, causes the emergence of certain combinations of enterprises of different profiles within the same territory, and contributes to the integration of production.

When combined, many types of waste become a valuable raw material for various industries, which makes it possible to locate various industries in areas where there are no natural raw materials for the latter.

Ek onomico-political factors location of industry are manifested in the alignment of the levels of economic development of national republics and regions in international division labor.

A certain influence on the location of various industries has transport. For example, in the ferrous metallurgy, cement, brick and other industries, where the share of transport costs is 35-50% of the cost of their products to the consumer, transport is of decisive importance. The possibility of reducing transportation costs plays an important role in improving the economic efficiency of the territorial organization of these industries.

In the engineering industry, for example, the share of transport costs is 3-5%, and here this factor does not play a significant role. However, even for these industries, the reduction of transport costs, which reach significant sizes, is of no small importance.

The principles of the location of industry are the initial scientific statements that guide the state in its economic policy in the area of ​​planned distribution of productive forces.

The most important principle of the location of industry is the approximation industrial production to sources of raw materials, to areas of consumption, provided that the necessary products are produced at minimal cost social labor.

Industry placement principles:

Bringing industrial production closer to sources of raw materials, to areas of consumption, provided that the necessary products are produced with minimal outlays of social labor.

Uniform distribution of industrial production throughout the country on the basis of industrial specialization and the use of all natural resources and labor resources.

Rational territorial division of labor with the aim of the most effective specialization of individual economic regions by industry and the creation of territorial production complexes.

International division of labor based economic integration.

economy industry transitional

Factors affecting the location of industries

· a group of natural and climatic factors: raw material factor, geographic environment, labor resources, consumption density.

· a group of technical and economic factors: scientific and technological progress, complex mechanization and automation, chemicalization progress, concentration of production, specialization of production, detailed specialization, technological specialization, cooperation, combination.

· A group of economic and political factors is manifested in the alignment of the levels of economic development of regions in the interregional and international division of labor.

The economic efficiency of locating new enterprises is determined on the basis of a national economic assessment of interacting factors, which takes into account the costs and savings of labor in all sectors directly related to the construction and operation of the industrial facility being located.

Ensuring rapid rates of expanded reproduction and growth in the productivity of social labor requires a broad expansion of industrial production throughout the country, an ever more even distribution of industry.

The uniform distribution of industrial production throughout the country on the basis of specialization of industry and the use of all natural resources and labor resources should be considered as one of the fundamental principles location of industry. The uniform distribution of industry is a qualitative feature of the development of this important branch of the national economy.

Bringing industry closer to sources of raw materials and a more uniform distribution of production throughout the country makes it possible to avoid excessively long-distance transportation of raw materials, "fuel, materials and finished products to their places of consumption. Transportation over long distances causes transport costs, which greatly increase the cost of production ~ efficiency of industrial production.

Thus, during rail transportation of Kansk-Achinsk coal over a distance of 300-350 km, their cost doubles, and when transported over a distance of 1000 or 2000 km, their cost at consumption points is 4 and 7 times higher, respectively, than at the place of production.

The ever more even distribution of industry throughout the country, however, does not mean that all branches of industry should develop in all economic regions. Some sectors gravitate towards areas where minerals occur, others towards sources of agricultural raw materials, still others towards areas of consumption, and so on. The task of locating these industries is to develop them in areas that have the necessary economic and natural prerequisites.

The essence of the territorial division of labor lies in the purposeful planned formation of the economy of all economic regions of the country on the basis of the systematic distribution of material production, constantly improving sectoral specialization, rationalization of production and social infrastructure, rationalization of inter-industry, inter-district and intra-district production relations.

The basis for the development of the economy of the economic regions of our country is industry. The creation in each region of a complex of industries, clearly specialized in accordance with the natural and economic characteristics of the region, and most fully satisfying national and intra-regional needs, is the most important component of the entire integrated development of the economy of the regions and plays a leading role in this development.

The integrated development of regions, combined with the elimination of irrational transportation of raw materials and finished products, ensures the equalization of the levels of economic development of all regions of the country.

The principle of location of production is the international division of labor based on economic integration. With the development of the world economic system, this principle is becoming increasingly important in the distribution of industry both in the entire system and in each of its constituent countries. The division of labor ensures the most rational development of the economy of each country and the specialization of individual states in those branches of industry for which they have the most favorable natural, economic and social conditions.

Participation in the international division of labor is reflected in the levels of development of individual industries and their distribution within the country, because. location of any industry depends on the scale of its development and specialization. It also affects the economic development and production specialization of individual regions, the construction of new transport communications - special oil and gas pipelines, power lines, the expansion of the corresponding railways, ports, etc. All this is reflected in the development of individual production-territorial complexes, especially individual industrial and transport hubs.

Along with the economic principles outlined above, in the practice of locating certain branches of industry, other circumstances are also taken into account, which are of a historically transitory nature, but which are of great social, political, or defense significance.

The impact of these principles on the specific process of industrial location is carried out through a number of factors that can be divided into three main groups: natural-economic, technical-economic and economic-political. Provision of districts with vehicles and their technical level act as an independent factor of placement.

The group of natural and economic factors includes the raw material factor, geographical environment, labor resources, consumption density.

The natural basis for the development and distribution of industry in Russia is formed by the resources of mineral raw materials and fuel, water, fish and other resources of animal and plant origin. Accounting for the raw material factor requires a deep study of the reserves, quality and economics of the use of raw materials, fuel and energy resources in each region. According to the nature of the influence of the raw factor, all industries are divided into mining and manufacturing. The nature of the occurrence of minerals, the amount and physiochemical properties and methods of mining has an impact on the size of mining enterprises, forms of organization of production and ultimately determines the economic efficiency of extractive industries.

The volume of production of individual mining enterprises, labor productivity, specific capital investments and production costs largely depend on the depth of mineral deposits. For example, average depth development of coal deposits is: in Donbass - 558 m, Kuzbass - 262 m, Karaganda basin - 384 m and Ekibazstuz - 90 m, etc. If the thickness of coal seams in the Donets Basin, as a rule, does not exceed 2.5 m, then in the Kuznetsk Basin it reaches 25 m, in the Kansk-Achinsk and Ekibastuz - 70-100 m. 18 times higher, and the cost of 1 ton of coal is 12 times lower.

In contrast to the mining industry, the influence of the raw material factor on the location of the manufacturing industry depends on the role of objects of labor in the economy of each industry, as well as on the consumer properties of products.

For example, high material-intensive industries, where the specific consumption of raw materials is much more than one (in the sugar industry - 5-7 tons, in the hydrolysis industry - 5.3-7.6, in the smelting of copper from concentrates - 7.5, etc.), have a pronounced raw material orientation.

High-energy-intensive industries are oriented towards massive and efficient fuel and energy resources.

Significant adjustments in the influence of the raw material factor on the location of manufacturing industries are made by the properties of the products produced. They mainly determine its economic and technological transportability.

The location of industrial production is increasingly influenced by the availability of water resources. This is due to an increase in the capacity of enterprises and a general increase in the water intensity of production associated with the development of the metallurgical, pulp and paper and, especially, chemical industries, where water serves not only as an auxiliary material, but also as one of the important raw materials.

The geographic environment has a significant impact on the location of industry, i.e. climatic conditions, hydrological regime of rivers, relief of the territory. Climatic conditions have an impact on the location of industrial enterprises due to unequal working conditions and human life in different areas.

In regions with unfavorable climatic conditions, the costs of labor force reproduction, capital investments in the construction of enterprises and the costs of their operation will be higher.

The location of industry is greatly influenced by the distribution of labor resources throughout the country and the density of consumption. The labor factor is important for literally all industries, but its influence is reduced as the labor intensity of production decreases. The greater the labor intensity of production and the share of wages in the cost of production, the stronger the dependence of the location of production on the geography of labor resources and vice versa. At the same time, the structure and qualification composition of labor resources in certain regions of the country should be taken into account.

The technical and economic factors of industrial location are represented by scientific and technological progress and rational forms of production organization.

The location of industrial production is greatly influenced by scientific and technological progress, especially such areas as electrification, complex mechanization and automation, chemicalization and improvement of technological processes. Scientific and technological progress makes it possible to deploy productive forces throughout the country, regardless of the natural and climatic features of the regions. The widespread development of electrification, the creation of a unified energy system of Russia and the transmission of electricity over long distances made it possible to involve in the national economic circulation the resources of regions that are deprived of fuel and hydropower reserves. Developing in areas that have sources of cheap fuel and hydropower resources, the electric power industry has an impact on the location in these areas of power-intensive industries, working mainly on imported raw materials.

Integrated mechanization and automation have a great impact on the location of labour-intensive industries. They allow you to organize production in areas that do not have a sufficient population, but have natural resources and conditions that make it possible to obtain cheap products.

In close connection with scientific and technological progress is the social organization of production, which appears in such forms as concentration, specialization, cooperation and combination.

The concentration of production has an impact on location, primarily due to the need for large enterprises to have powerful raw materials and fuel and energy bases. Along with the enlargement of the size of enterprises, the circle of suppliers of the means of production necessary for them and consumers of the products they produce is expanding. For large enterprises, it becomes much more difficult to choose their locations and industrial sites, measures to create infrastructure, etc. The importance of the transport factor increases when justifying the location of industrial construction, because the economic advantages of a large enterprise may disappear as a result of an increase in the costs of transporting raw materials, fuel and finished products.

The specialization of production, depending on its types, has a different effect on the location of industry. Thus, subject specialization in a certain way localizes industrial enterprises.

Combination plays an important role in the location of industry. Combination is a production-technological and technological connection aimed at the production of several products from one type of raw material. When combined, many types of waste become a valuable raw material for various industries, which makes it possible to locate various industries in areas where there are no natural raw materials for the latter.

The consistent implementation of the concepts of distribution of productive forces made it possible to radically change the distribution of industry in the republics and regions of the country. This contributed to the systematic overcoming of the economic and cultural backwardness of the national republics and regions and pulling them up in economic terms to the level of the most developed regions.

Transport has a certain influence on the location of various industries. For example, in the ferrous metallurgy, cement, brick and other industries, where the share of transport costs is 35-50% of the cost of their products to the consumer, transport is of decisive importance. The possibility of reducing transportation costs plays an important role in improving the economic efficiency of the territorial organization of these industries.

In superphosphate, meat, pulp and paper and some other industries, the share of transport costs is 10-25%. Here, this factor has a significant, but not decisive role in machine-building, textile, leather and footwear, etc. industries, the share of transport costs is 3-5%, and here this factor does not play a significant role. However, even for these industries, the reduction of transport costs, which reach significant sizes, is of no small importance.

Determining the intensity of the impact of production, it is necessary to take into account, first of all, the costs of raw materials, materials, fuel per unit of output. If they exceed the weight of finished products, then it is advantageous to place industrial enterprises near raw materials and fuel and energy bases, since this leads to a reduction in the volume of transport work. In cases where the cost of raw materials and fuel is less than the weight of the finished product, the reduction in transportation is achieved through the consumer orientation of enterprises. With an equal weight ratio of raw materials (as well as fuel) and finished products, production has the greatest freedom of location, gravitating to the extent of economic expediency either to raw materials and fuel and energy resources, or to areas of consumption or places of labor concentration.