2. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDUSTRY OF THE URAL ECONOMIC REGION

2.1 ASSESSMENT OF THE HEAVY INDUSTRY OF THE URALS

Ferrous metallurgy

Iron. The glory of the Urals was created, first of all, by iron ores, the deposits of which in the Urals have been known since the 17th century. During the years of Soviet power, our country came out on top in the world in terms of iron ore resources. The importance of this belongs to the Urals. In terms of reserves, its iron ore deposits are second only to the Kursk magnetic anomaly and Krivoy Rog. Ural ores are of high quality and are usually located close to the surface, which makes them easier to extract.

Back in the thirties, after the XVI Congress of the CPSU (b), the task was set to create in the east of the country the second coal and metallurgical center of the USSR on the basis of the richest coal and ore deposits of the Urals and Siberia. At the same time, intensive study and development of the iron ore deposit of Magnitnaya Mountain in the South Urals began. Now the iron ore reserves of Mount Magnitnaya are almost exhausted, but in the first decades of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, and especially during the Great Patriotic War, this deposit was of great economic importance in the development of the ferrous metallurgy of our country.

Iron ore reserves have also been explored in the Northern Urals - the Peschanskaya group of rich magnetite ore deposits, which meet the needs of the Serov Metallurgical Plant; iron deposits were additionally explored in the Ivdelsky district, etc. Exploration work within the Bakalsky ore field (Chelyabinsk region) revealed new deposits of brown iron ore and siderites - Novo-Bakalskoye, Rudnichnoye, Petlinskoye. In the postwar years, deposits of rich magnetite ores - Kacharskoye, Sokolovsko-Sarbaiskoye - and oolitic brown iron ore - Lisakovskoye, Ayatskoye, etc., were discovered. economic region allows to extend the life of existing mining enterprises and to design new facilities for the extraction of iron ore.

There are also reserves of chromite ores in the Urals (Saranovsky group of deposits), but they are used for the production of refractories due to the low content of chromium oxide and high silicon content. For the smelting of ferrochromium, chromites from Kazakhstan are used.

However, there are serious problems in the industry. The structure of rolled metal produced in the region needs to be improved. The mechanical engineering of the Urals is a large consumer of rolled products, but more than 1/3 of rolled products have to be imported from other regions. There is a lack of rolled sheets, alloyed rolled products and others.

The high concentration of metallurgical production has, in addition to positive aspects (reducing the cost of production, etc.) and extremely negative consequences: a sharp deterioration in the environmental situation, problems of water supply, population resettlement, transport, and others. Therefore, a further increase in the capacity of metallurgical enterprises is not advisable, especially in the southern Urals, which suffers from a lack of water resources, where the main production is currently concentrated.

An important direction for the further development of the iron and steel industry in the Urals is the technical re-equipment of existing enterprises, the accelerated implementation of the achievements of scientific and technical progress. The construction of oxygen-converter shops at the Magnitogorsk and Nizhny Tagil plants, electric steel-smelting plants with continuous casting machines at the Orsk-Khalilovsky plant, Chelyabinsk, Serov, Alapaevsky plants is underway. All pipe plants are being reconstructed.

Non-ferrous metallurgy.

Non-ferrous metallurgy is also a branch of market specialization of the Ural economic region, it is distinguished by a very high level of development, represented by the production of copper, zinc, and nickel.

The leading place is occupied by the copper industry, the raw material base of which is copper - pyrite ores, which occur along the eastern slope of the Urals. Mining is carried out mainly in the South Urals. In the near future, the exploitation of deposits of high-quality copper ores in the northern Urals will begin, which are distinguished by a high content of basic and associated components, a low content of harmful impurities; open-pit mining is possible. Enterprises for the smelting of blister copper are concentrated in the areas of mining and ores: in Krasnouralsk, Kirovgrad, Revda, Karabashi, Mednogorsk. The next stage of copper processing - its refining - is carried out at electrolytic plants in Kyshtym and Verkhnyaya Pyshma. Copper smelting generates waste used in the chemical industry. Since copper ores are usually multicomponent and contain, in addition to copper, zinc, gold, cadmium, selenium and other elements (up to 25), copper plants produce other metals in addition to copper or their concentrates.

In the Urals, nickel ores are mined and enriched, and nickel metal and metal products are smelted. Nickel production is concentrated in ore mining areas: in the South Trans-Urals (Orsk), Ufaleisk region. A new mining and metallurgical plant was built on the basis of the Buruktal deposit. In addition to nickel, it includes the production of cobalt and iron concentrate, and waste disposal for chemical purposes.

The aluminum industry of the Urals is provided with its own raw materials. Aluminum smelters: Bogoslovsky (Krasnoturinsk), Uralsky (city of Kamensk - Uralsky) and others. The further development of the aluminum industry in the Urals is associated with the strengthening of its energy base, since. smelting of metallic aluminum is a very energy-intensive production.

The production of titanium and magnesium is also energy intensive. In the Urals, it is represented by the Berezniki titanium and magnesium plant and the Solikamsk magnesium plant, which are based on carnallites of the Verkhnekamsk salt-bearing basin.

For the production of zinc in the Ural economic region, both local raw materials, represented by copper-zinc ores, and imported concentrates are used. A major center of the zinc industry is Chelyabinsk.

Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC)

Combining ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company is one of the most dynamic vertically integrated companies in the country. In recent years, UMMC has gone from a conglomerate of technologically interdependent enterprises to a metallurgical holding.

Large industrial holdings have already been formed in our country, which are able to organize deep processing of raw materials. Moreover, our industrialists are following the path of vertical integration - combining raw materials and processing enterprises into single chains, which provides production with competitive products. At the same time, raw material security is the most important component of the holding's success.

According to the forecasts of international experts, the UMMC enterprises are provided with the Ural reserves of copper ores only for 6-10 years. The situation is further complicated by the fact that supplies from the Russian-Mongolian Mining and Processing Plant Erdenet have practically ceased. Raw materials, bypassing Russia, go for processing to China and Japan.

The answer to the question of whether the Ural copper industry will survive in ten years should be sought now. Let's take as an example the situation at the Udokan copper deposit in the north of the Chita region. Industry experts, speaking about Udokan, always mention the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company. The fact is that in its long-term development UMMC has long been focused on Udokan. Today, UMMC enterprises are not fully provided with their own raw materials. The Ural deposits are being depleted, and they will not be enough for a long time. And it is the development of Udokan that is the way out of that situation. Udokan is important not only for the company itself, but also for the regions where UTMK operates: Sverdlovsk, Orenburg, Kurgan, Tomsk, Chita and other regions.

The role of UMMC on a national scale is known today: it is more than 40 percent of Russian copper, 3.6 billion rubles of tax deductions for 2001, more than 20 city-forming enterprises in 7 regions of Russia. And tomorrow the company's role in the country's economy will only increase. And government officials will have to decide whether Russian natural resources will make Russia richer or the rest of the world.

If the company's plans are destined to come true, Russia will have access to an ore base of 20 million tons of copper and, accordingly, a powerful pulse for the development of the domestic metallurgical and machine-building industry, related industries, not to mention the solution of long-standing problems in a number of regions of the Urals and Transbaikalia.

Engineering.

Mechanical engineering of the Urals is a large branch of its market specialization, it occupies a leading place in the structure of industrial production of the Ural economic region. Currently, almost 150 machine-building enterprises operate in the region, representing all sub-branches of mechanical engineering. Here are developed: heavy engineering (production of mining and metallurgical equipment, chemical and petrochemical equipment), energy (production of turbines, steam boilers and others), transport, agricultural engineering, tractor construction. The most rapidly developing electrical engineering, instrumentation, machine tool.

Many industries are metal-intensive, so mechanical engineering closely interacts with metallurgy. The main centers of heavy engineering: Yekaterinburg (Uralmash, Uralkhimmash, Uralelektrotyazhmash, drilling and metallurgical equipment plants, etc.), Orsk (equipment for metallurgy and mining), Perm (mining engineering), Ufa (mining equipment plant), Karpinsk (manufacturing and repair of mining equipment) and others. Equipment for the oil and gas industry is produced in Salavat, Buzuluki, Troitsk, etc.

The Urals is not only a metallurgical base for heavy engineering, but also a major consumer of its products.

The leading center for the production of turbines is Yekaterinburg. Agricultural engineering and tractor building are developed in Chelyabinsk (a tractor plant, the production of autotractor trailers, etc.), in Kurgan ("Kurganselmash"), Orsk and other cities.

Transport engineering is represented by car building (Nizhny Tagil, Ust-Katav), passenger cars (Izhevsk) and heavy-duty (Miass) cars, buses (Kurgan); motorcycles (Izhevsk, Irbit), shipbuilding (Perm), ship repair (Solikamsk).

Enterprises of instrument making, machine tool building, electrical industry operate in many industrial centers of the Urals: Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Ufa, Kurgan, Orenburg, etc.

For mechanical engineering of the Ural economic region, as well as for the entire industry, excessive concentration in large cities is characteristic; insufficient specialization, the universalism of many enterprises, the dispersal of auxiliary and repair industries, the slow introduction of the achievements of scientific and technical progress, the preservation of old equipment and technology.

The main directions of development of mechanical engineering in the Urals are as follows:

Technical re-equipment and reconstruction of existing enterprises, the introduction of flexible automatic lines, equipment with built-in microprocessor technology, etc.

Deepening the specialization of machine-building enterprises. To this end, branches and workshops of large factories are being created in small and medium-sized cities, "non-core" enterprises are brought here from large cities, centralized repair and maintenance industries are being formed;

3. Changing the structure of the machine-building complex in the direction of increasing the share of the most progressive industries: machine tool building, production of precision mechanics, complex equipment, etc. At the same time, there will be a further deepening of specialization

First of all, transport engineering stands out, and from its sub-sectors - the automotive industry. The VAZ automobile plant (Tolyatti) produces cars, the Kama complex of the automobile plant (center in Naberezhnye Chelny) - heavy vehicles, the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant - UAZ all-terrain vehicles, trolleybuses are manufactured in Engels, a new Oka car production complex was built in Yelabuga. Samara and Saratov are major centers of aircraft manufacturing. Centers for precision engineering - Kazan, Penza, Ulyanovsk; shipbuilding centers - Astrakhan, Volgograd. Agricultural engineering is also developed in the region. Plants for the production of agricultural machinery are located in Volgograd, Saratov, Syzran, Kamenka.

Miass. The Ural Automobile Plant was awarded a diploma and a medal at the exhibition "Russian Industrialist-2000", which ended in St. Petersburg. It was attended by 600 firms from 35 countries, including 30 enterprises of the Chelyabinsk region.

Fuel energy complex - ensures the functioning of all sectors of the economy. Its development is especially important in the Urals, where many heat- and energy-intensive industries are concentrated. The Urals is one of the areas with a low supply of fuel and energy resources. The traditional industry for the Urals is the coal industry, but the reserves of hard and brown coal in the Urals are very small compared to other coal basins in the country. Local coal provides only half of the needs of the Ural economic region. Coal is imported to the Urals from Kuzbass, Karaganda and Ekibastuz.

Of great importance at the present time is oil and gas production, which, nevertheless, does not cover the needs of the Ural economic region.

The united Ural energy system is one of the largest in the country, its basis is thermal power engineering based on coal and natural and associated gas. It is represented by Reftinskaya (3.8 million kW), Troitskaya (2.5 million kW), and Iriklinskaya (2.4 million kW), South Ural State District Power Plant, etc. Hydropower is also developed - the largest hydroelectric power plants are built on Kami : Votkinskaya and Kama; have several smaller hydroelectric power stations. In the Urals there nuclear power plant- Beloyarskaya with a powerful fast neutron reactor. Further strengthening of the energy base of the Ural economic region is associated with the commissioning of the Permskaya GRES (4.8 million kW), which is under construction, the expansion of the Reftinskaya GRES, and the construction of the Bashkir and South Ural NPPs. Electricity will also be supplied via the transmission line Ekibastus - Ural (from Kazakhstan), and in the future - from Western Siberia and the Kansk-Achinsk TPK. In order to supply the power plants of the Urals with coal, a project of the Kuzbass-Ural coal pipeline with a length of 2400 km is being developed.

It is also planned to develop the North - Sosva and Kama coal basins.

In terms of volume, 82.6 percent of all Ural exports fall on the oil and gas industries (an increase of 3.2 percent over the year), the main production facilities of which are located in the Tyumen region - LUKOIL, Yukos, TNK, Surgutneftegaz, " Slavneft and Sibneft (for the second year in a row they have been holding places from 1 to 6 in the rating, respectively, in total, the industry is represented by 15 enterprises in the overall rating). Therefore, Perm enterprises of the oil industry are not included in the rating. It can be assumed that this year the share of oil exports will also continue to grow, driven by factors such as increased production, favorable global conditions, an increase in the share of oil refining and continued mergers and acquisitions.

Bronze Age and Early Iron Age

(III millennium BC - II century AD) The transition to the metal era was long and, due to specific historical conditions, far from simultaneous. The oldest metal tools of Turkey, Iran, Mesopotamia belong to the 7th-6th millennium BC. e., on the territory of our country (southern Turkmenistan, Transcaucasia, southwestern Ukraine and Moldova) - by the turn of the 5th-4th millennium BC. e., and in the Urals - to the turn of the IV-III millennium BC. e. In the Early Metal Age, two periods are distinguished: the Eneolithic (the use of copper tools proper) and the Bronze Age (the use of bronze tools). One of the six oldest centers of metallurgy on the territory of the USSR was formed in the Urals, although it arose much later than the southern ones: Kopetdag, Caucasian, Balkan-Carpathian. According to the geological and geographical conditions, the Ural mining and metallurgical region is divided into two centers: the Ural one with poor copper sandstones and the Trans-Ural or Ural proper with oxidized ores containing native copper and ore bodies emerging close to the surface. In ancient times, the most accessible deposits of oxidized ores were used first of all. They are fusible, their extraction was carried out in an open way. Information about ancient mines has been preserved in the archives and writings of scientists of the 17th-18th centuries. According to the legend, "wonderful" people - "chud" mined ore in these places. Hence the names "Chudsky mines", "Chudsky mines" came from. It is also known that the “Chudsky mines” served as the starting points for searches for Russian miners of the 17th-18th centuries. The vast majority of ancient mines were destroyed in later developments. In the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age, the uneven socio-economic development of the population of the Urals intensifies. The change in the productive forces, which was not equally dynamic everywhere and in everything, led to a variety of rates and levels of the historical process. It was exacerbated by long-standing, traditional and distant exchange ties, the influence of more developed societies and cultures. The further development of the economy in areas and individual societies was determined by the improvement and expansion of manufacturing industries, primarily metallurgy and cattle breeding. The economy, while remaining largely complex, was restructured through the coordination and subordination of industries, specialization in metallurgy, cattle breeding and commercial hunting, transformation of the appropriating and household economy on the basis of and under the influence of the producer. In a wide area from the tundra to the steppes, various economic and cultural types were formed. Economic shifts corresponded to social ones: not simultaneously, but everywhere there was a decomposition of the primitive communal system. Socio-economic and cultural transformations, caused by internal causes, were marked by constant contacts and movements of groups of the Urals and neighboring populations, which especially intensified in the early Iron Age. First of all, we are talking about the relationship of the Finno-Ugric population with the Indo-European, expressed in the economic and cultural influence of the latter, as well as partial or complete assimilation of the Finno-Ugric forest-steppe of the Urals by the Indo-Europeans.

The origin and development of metallurgy. Formation of economic and cultural types

The most ancient Ural metallurgy arises under the influence of the Caucasian metallurgical center. In the III millennium BC. e. in the Southern Urals, on the basis of cuprous sandstones of the Orenburg group (Kargaly mines), the earliest Pit-Poltavka metallurgical center is formed. The tools were cast from metallurgical "pure" copper, their number is still small. The products of this focus are found in the sites of the Lower and Middle Volga region, on the Don. While borrowing technology and some forms of products from the Caucasus, Ural metallurgy developed on its own raw material and fuel (wood) base. In the first half of the III millennium BC. e. along with the Pit-Poltavka hearth, thin, but independent metallurgical hearths are formed in the South Trans-Urals and the Kama region. Hunters and cattle breeders of the Southern Trans-Urals discovered copper deposits and began their development. At the Eneolithic settlements of KysyKul in the vicinity of the city of Miass, Karabalykty IX, Murat III, Surtandy VI and VIII in the vicinity of the city of Magnitogorsk, forged copper objects of non-standard shape were found, which indicates the initial, still primitive stage of metallurgy. Native copper was mined at the ancient mines of Bakr-Uzyak (in Bashkir Copper Log) 50 km from the city of Magnitogorsk near the river. Bolshoy Kizyl, Tash-Kazgan, Voznesenskoye in the Uchalinsky district of the BASSR. /^ ~ In the Kama region, on the basis of the Permian group of cuprous sandstones, under a certain influence of the western (Balanovsky) hearth, the Garinsky-Borsky metallurgical hearth is formed. Traces of local metal smelting were found at the Bor I settlement in the lower reaches of the river. Chusovoy. Fragments of a foundry clay cup, drops of metal, a copper stem knife and an awl were found near the hearth on the floor of the dwelling. In the second quarter of the II millennium BC. e. in the forest-steppe regions of the Urals, a new, more powerful Abashevsky (Balanbashsky) metallurgical center was formed. Metallurgists used two types of ore sources: cuprous sandstones of the Ufa-Orenburg group, as well as the Tash-Kazgan and Nikolskoye deposits. The Abashevo population of the Urals had a highly developed art of copper processing. Ore smelting was carried out in the settlements, as evidenced by the finds of slag, melting bowls, metal products (settlements of Balanbash, Urnyak, Malo-Kizilskoe). Ancient metallurgists knew the casting of objects in one-sided and two-sided casting molds, they also used simpler methods of copper processing - forging. The types and forms of tools and weapons that were invented by the Abashev craftsmen are diverse: a narrow-bladed dangling ax, plow sickles, intercepted knives, spears, and original decorations. The extraction of metal and the manufacture of products by the Abashevo tribes was carried out not only to meet internal needs, but also for exchange. Ural metal went to the Abashevo tribes of the Middle Volga region, in the Kama region, Ural products reached the Baltic. The wide distribution of products testifies to the significant power of the Balanbash metallurgical hearth. The development of metallurgy led to the isolation of this branch of the economy. In the Abashevo communities there were craftsmen who specialized in the production of metal products. In a burial at Pepkino found a whole set of caster's tools: a clay mold for casting a pendulous axe, two clay crucible-bowls, a hammer and a plate for grinding ore, stone and bone hammers, and a grinder. In the Eneolithic settlements of the Middle Trans-Urals, traces of local casting in one-sided forms were found, forged copper products and wooden objects were found with traces of the use of metal tools in the manufacture. However, the question of the origins of the Middle Trans-Ural metallurgy has not been resolved: whether it arises independently or under the influence of neighboring centers. From the middle of the II millennium BC. e. in the development of the Ural metallurgy, serious shifts are taking place, in particular, bronze alloys are being mastered, the tools of which were harder, more durable and more efficient in work. A number of Ural metallurgical centers are being formed. The exchange of both metal ingots and finished products is expanding. These changes coincided with the influx of a new population into the Urals from the eastern and southeastern regions of the country. Along the southern edge of the forest and partly the forest-steppe of Western Siberia, tribes advanced to the Urals, which played a significant role in the development of the metallurgy of the Urals. Excavations of the Turbinsky burial ground on Shustova Gora (middle Kama) yielded a rich set of bronze items: Celts, spears, knives, adzes. The early turbine collections are represented by tin bronzes, which testify to West Siberian connections. Later finds were made from copper-arsenic alloys from trans-Ural sources (Tash-Kazgan). The Turbinsky collections turned out to be typologically close to the collections from the burial ground near the Seima station, not far from the city of Turbine. Gorky. The chain of finds of Celtic axes and copies of the Seima-Turbinsky type stretches from the Yenisei to the Volga and goes back to Siberia with its roots. Related tribes that left the Seiminsky and Turbinsky burial grounds, as they moved westward, interacted with the local population, who left the settlements of the Garin-Bor type, and with the tribes of the Volga region (Volosovsky type of monuments), which subsequently led to the formation of various cultures.

Map-scheme of the location of copper deposits of the Ural mining and metallurgical region, conditionally and unconditionally exploited in antiquity (according to E. N. Chernykh)

1 - zone of copper sandstone deposits in the Urals; 2 - groups of mines; 3 - deposits

By the middle of the II millennium BC. e. in the Southern Trans-Urals, the most powerful center of metallurgy that existed at that time in the Urals, Andronovo, was formed. The main ore base of the Andronovo metallurgists were the Elenovka and Ush-Katta deposits located in the north of Mugodzhar. Copper mines were open pits up to 4 m deep. No traces of smelting were found at the place where the ore was mined. At the mine, ore was crushed to separate it from the rock and select the most valuable pieces. Enriched ore was delivered to settlements sometimes hundreds of kilometers away. The metal was melted in special melting pits, bowls, and vessels. The manufacture of tools was carried out by forging or casting in two-sided and one-sided forms. The Andronovites were dominated by tin bronzes (62% of total number objects), tin was of East Kazakhstan origin. The degree of technical equipment of the Andronovo economy is characterized by a set of metal tools: hanging axes, sickles, Celts-adzes, chisels, chisels, scraper knives, dagger knives, needles, maces, spears, arrowheads, etc. Various decorations and objects were also made from metal. household items. The Andronovo hearth had a significant impact on the development of the economy of the northern and western territories. The neighbors of the Andronovites in the west were the tribes of the Srubna culture, which developed their own metallurgical hearth, but the production of copper did not play any significant role among them. The metal was imported, mainly from the Urals: Local craftsmen were mainly engaged in metalworking. Having adopted some Andronovo forms of products, they introduced a lot of originality into them and developed a number of new forms. Among the population, metallurgists stand out, whose products were used not only within the community, but also for exchange. In the Tavlykaevsky settlement of the Belsko-Ural interfluve, a separate dwelling of a master metallurgist was found, located on the outskirts of the village. In the dwelling there was a melting furnace, an economic pit and a hearth; found pieces of slag, stone pestles and hammers for crushing ore, a copper ingot. It is not uncommon to find hoards of bronze tools intended for exchange. So, sickles and molds for their casting were found in the Buguruslansky district of the Orenburg region. With the emergence of the Andronovo and Srubnaya hearths, the Urals are included in the gigantic metallurgical area of ​​Western Siberia and Central Asia. Ural metal spreads west to the Dnieper, displacing Caucasian bronze from the Eastern European steppes. The discovery of metal had an impact on all aspects of the life of people of primitive society. Metal was a new, more efficient material, which led to a significant increase in productive forces. Copper and bronze provided great opportunities for creating new forms of tools and weapons. Metal contributed to the expansion of exchange, specialization and division of labor. During the Bronze Age, the economic and social forms of life changed radically. Already in the Eneolithic, patriarchal-clan relations were formed with the dominant position of men in the family and clan. The increased individualization of labor and the growth of the productive forces destroyed the foundations of the collective economy of tribal society. By the end of the Bronze Age, property differentiation and separation of the nobility from the bulk of their fellow tribesmen began among the agricultural and pastoral tribes. However, this process in different geographical areas took place in different ways. In the Urals, in the taiga zone during the Bronze Age, appropriating forms of the economy continue to exist, the transition to new forms was rather slow. Further progressive development here is associated with the development of metal and the intensification of the fishing and hunting economy. In the Southern Urals, at the same time, a transition was made to a more progressive pastoral and agricultural economy, which led to the accumulation of communal wealth and tribal clashes. In the Bronze Age, three zones can be distinguished in the Urals: in the steppe and forest-steppe zone, an integrated production economy was established; The nature of the economy and the pace of its development largely depend on the natural environment. The period of the Eneolithic and the Bronze Age as a whole is characterized by climate warming and several short-term deteriorations. Climate fluctuations should have also affected the nature of the landscape, especially in the border geographic zones. The increase in humidity entailed an increase in the water level in lakes and rivers, flooding of the floodplains of large rivers, which created favorable conditions for fishing. Droughts caused the shallowing of water bodies and, accordingly, the deterioration of conditions for fishing, but created more favorable opportunities for floodplain agriculture and cattle breeding. In a changing climate, the population of the Urals moved to new forms of economy or changed the ratio of traditional ones, while the dominant role was always occupied by the most rational for that time branch of economic activity. The steppes of the Southern Urals from the Urals to the Dnieper already in the III millennium BC. e. were inhabited by tribes of pastoralists of the ancient pit cultural and historical community. Its formation was associated with the first regular settlement of the steppe spaces of the Volga-Ural interfluve by the Late Neolithic population of the forest-steppe and southern forest zones in connection with the development of cattle breeding. This population was characterized by a mobile lifestyle - semi-nomadic and nomadic. The herd included horses and sheep. Bulls, apparently, were used as transport animals. The presence of wheeled transport and draft animals is evidenced by finds of wooden wheels from wagons. The bull team appeared long before horses were harnessed to chariots and carts. The spread of wheeled transport contributed to the development of nomadic pastoralism, made it possible for pastoralists to move on a cart following the herds. There is no direct evidence of agricultural skills among the Ural group of the ancient Pit tribes. Hunting and fishing played a minor role. The economy can be characterized as producing, cattle-breeding, extensive in its basis, quickly giving a surplus product. In the Southern Urals, in the Eneolithic, a combined fishing and cattle breeding economy was formed. Settlements are located, as before, along the banks of lakes and small rivers. On the settlements of both the western slope of the Urals (Davlekanovo, Mullino, etc.) and the eastern slope (Bannoye II, Surtandy VIII, Karabalykty VIII, etc.), bones of a horse and cattle were found. The Eneolithic, apparently, was the time of adaptation of cattle breeding to the rather harsh conditions of the Southern Urals and Trans-Urals. At the end of the Chalcolithic, the population of the South Urals left the shores of lakes and small rivers and moved to the floodplains of large rivers, since in the early stages, domestic cattle breeding and hoe farming were based on floodplain lands. In the changed climatic conditions, fishing and hunting could no longer provide the population with food, and the transition to more progressive forms of economy becomes a historical necessity. Thus, the origins of the formation of pastoral tribes of the Bronze Age go back to the Eneolithic, when elements of a productive economy developed in the southern regions of the Urals. In most of the territory of the Middle Urals, the leading role in the economy of the Eneolithic era is still occupied by fishing, which provided a strong settled way of life. This is evidenced by the topography of the settlements and the predominance of fishing equipment. Thus, in the lower layer VI of the section of the Gorbunovsky peat bog, 82% of the tools are fishing. Especially in the settlements, sinkers of a standard form were used for nets made of stone and clay. At the Second Andreevskaya site excavated by P.A. Dmitriev, near the city of Tyumen, weights accounted for about 80% of the total number of sacks, and the bottom of one of the dwellings was covered with a 10-centimeter scale of fish scales. AT winter time The population lived by hunting. In the forest-steppe and steppe zone of the Urals in the Bronze Age, the main sectors of the economy were cattle breeding and agriculture, with an insignificant role played by hunting, fishing and gathering. During the excavations of the Abashevo settlements in the Southern Urals (Balanbash, Urnyak, Malo-Kizilskoye), bones of a cow, sheep, horse and pig were found. Cows of two breeds: small dwarf and large. Pig bones belong to a very large breed. The tall breed of cattle was used as a transport animal. The bones of cattle found in the Abashevo burial under the Tsar's Kurgan confirm this assumption. The dead were brought on oxen to the place of burial, then the velas were sacrificed along with other animals. The horse began to be used as a transport animal (a bone psalium from a bridle was found at the Balanbash settlement). Tools of labor testify to the development of agriculture: stone hoes for loosening the earth, copper sickles for harvesting, stone grain grinders for processing agricultural products. Hoe farming was concentrated in the floodplains of the rivers. Appeared in the second half of the II millennium BC. e. in the Southern Urals, the tribes of the Srubna culture were also engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture. The latter was more developed among them than among their predecessors - the Abashevites, agricultural tools, especially sickles, were improved, bronze hoes-adzes appeared. However, primitive hoe farming could not provide the population with food, so cattle breeding remained the leading branch of the economy. The Alakul tribes of the Andronovo community, who lived in the steppe zone to the east and south of the Urals, were engaged in floodplain agriculture, although cattle breeding was the leading direction of their economy. Sedentary pastoralists raised cows, sheep, horses, using floodplain meadows for grazing. Horses were used both for riding and in harness. The importance of the horse in meat nutrition increases with the transition from pastoral to semi-nomadic economy. An economy that combined productive and appropriating forms developed among the Cherkaskul tribes living in the south of the forest zone of the Urals. Cherkaskul culture took shape in the forest Trans-Urals, and then the tribes settled in the forest-steppe regions of the Trans-Urals and the Urals. They were familiar with metallurgy. They raised domestic animals. There was a large percentage of pigs in the herd. Hunting was of great importance. At the Cherkaskul II settlement, the bones of wild animals (moose, roe deer) account for 46.5% of the total number of bones found. Cherkaskul people also knew hoe farming (a rough hoe was found in the settlement of Kumlekul, and in Chesnokovskaya Pashna and Lake Peschanoe - bronze hooked sickles). In the taiga zone of the Urals, hunting and fishing played a leading role in the economy, and gathering was a significant help. This type of economy was preserved among the Turbine tribes of the Kama region and the Gamayun tribes of the Trans-Urals. During the transitional period from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, the economy of the Ural tribes underwent significant changes. The population of the southern regions is leaving the floodplains and moving to the open steppes. This process was stimulated by the beginning rise in water in rivers and lakes, which made it difficult for floodplain agriculture and cattle breeding. The composition of the herd is also changing: the proportion of cattle among the Andronovo and Srubna populations is decreasing, and the percentage of horses is sharply increasing, which is better than any other animal capable of getting food from under the snow and clearing winter pastures for other animals. A transition is being made from a settled cattle-breeding and agricultural economy to a distant pasture. Before the advent of the iron plow, the steppe and forest-steppe spaces were ineffective for agriculture, so cattle breeding should have taken the leading role. However, its forms have changed. At the final stage of the Bronze Age, the basis of the economy of the steppe regions was pastoral cattle breeding. Cattle were kept on grazing all year round. This method required a seasonal distribution of pastures and was associated with certain movements. Apparently, there was a process of dividing the way of life of the population into mobile and sedentary. In the forest-steppe and in the south of the forest regions of the Urals (Mezhovskaya culture), the basis of the economy was also pastoral cattle breeding, but the composition of the herd was different than that of the population of the steppe regions of the Urals and Northern Kazakhstan. Long-term settlements, a large number of cattle (38%) and pigs (16-17%) suggest a strong sedentary population. In the floodplains of the rivers, they were engaged in agriculture, a significant role belonged to hunting and fishing. The population of the forest regions of the Volga-Kama (left monuments of the Erzov, Prikazan, Kurmantau types), under the influence of their southern neighbors, switched to cattle breeding and agriculture as the main sectors of the economy, pushing fishing and hunting into the background.

"Peculiarities of placement of non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgy in the Urals"

The richest mineral resources form the basis of the economic power of the Urals. About 1,000 types of minerals and over 12,000 mineral deposits have been discovered here.

Of the 55 elements of the periodic table, which have received great national economic importance, 48 are mined in the Urals.

Oil fields are located in the western foothills and in the south of the Urals - in Udmurtia, Perm and Orenburg regions, Bashkortostan (the largest). A significant part of the original reserves of liquid hydrocarbons has already been developed, and new technologies are needed to extract the remaining ones. The current state of oil reserves makes it possible to produce about 39 million tons of liquid hydrocarbons in the Urals, which is about 13% of oil production in Russia.

Natural gas reserves are mainly concentrated in the Orenburg region. (over 1 trillion m 3), where one of the major gas production centers in Russia is located, but there are also in Bashkortostan, Perm Region. and Udmurtia. The total gas production in the region in 2000 was 28 billion m 3 , or less than 5% of gas production in Russia.

Coal reserves in the Urals are of local importance: Kizel basin in the Perm region, deposits brown coal in the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions. In the context of economic competition in the coal industry, coal mining in the Urals has no prospects due to its economic inefficiency.

Stocks of iron and copper ores are taken into account in the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions. Moreover, if balance reservescopper ores are sufficient for local non-ferrous metallurgy, then iron ore reserves are not enough to provide the Ural ferrous and metallurgical base, and therefore there is an import of iron ore from Kazakhstan (from the Sokolovsko-Sarbaiskoye deposit in the Kustanai region). There are reserves of manganese ores in the Northern Urals.

The Urals also contain 27% of bauxite and copper ore reserves explored in Russia, 12% of nickel and 58% of zinc. Reserves of rare metal ores, alluvial diamonds, emeralds, asbestos, and marble have been explored and are being developed.

In the Solikamsko-Bereznikovsky industrial district of the Perm region. Russia's largest deposits of potash and table salt. It should be noted that the fossil reserves of the Verkhnekamsk potash basin are of global importance, since a significant part of the world's potassium reserves is concentrated here. In the same region, a complex of enterprises for the production of magnesium and titanium concentrate operates on the basis of carnallite ores.

The Ural region has water resources belonging to three basins: the Volga-Kama (in the west), the Ob-Irtysh (in the east) and the Urals - r. Ural (in the south). The largest rivers: Kama with tributaries of the Belaya and Chusovaya, Ural with a tributary of the Sakmara River and large tributaries of the river. Tobol - Tavda, Tura, Iset (Irtysh basin) - originate in the Ural watershed and do not differ in high water. The specific water supply in the Urals is very low and amounts to 6.6 thousand m 3 /year per capita, which is more than 4 times lower than the average Russian indicator. In the large industrial centers of the Urals, as well as in its southern agrarian zone, there is a water shortage.

In terms of the level of provision with forest resources - 4.1 billion m 3 - the WER is inferior in the European part of the country only to the Northern region. In total, 5.7% of the country's forest resources are concentrated here. 2/3 of the forest reserves are concentrated in the Sverdlovsk and Perm regions. - in the north of the region. In the steppe zone, timber reserves are small, minimal in the Orenburg region. - about 1%.

The region contains 17% of arable agricultural land in Russia, including more than half in the Orenburg region. and Bashkortostan. fertile chernozem soils these regions create the preconditions for high yields.

The gross regional product of WER was about 13% of Russia's GDP.

Per capita production of GRP in the region approaches the average Russian level only in the Perm and Sverdlovsk regions, in other regions it is 25–30% lower, and in the Kurgan region. lower by 52%. The backlog of the Urals in this indicator can be explained by the ongoing process of restructuring the main sectors of the economy, primarily industry.

In terms of the share of industrial production in the GRP of the Urals at the present stage, the Chelyabinsk region was in the lead. - 44%, Udmurtia - 38% and Sverdlovsk region. - 39%, and Udmurtia stands out in terms of the share of agriculture - 8.5%. In the production of services with 50% of GRP, Kurgan and Perm regions were ahead. – over 43%.

Industrial complexes. Branches of the main specialization of the Ural region are part of the fuel and energy complex, metallurgical and machine-building industrial complexes. In 2000, they accounted for 76% of the total industrial output in the region.

As branches of additional industrial specialization of the Urals, one can single out the chemical and petrochemical industries. building materials.

Positive dynamics of economic development by the beginning of the 2000s. was typical for non-ferrous metallurgy, the fuel industry and mechanical engineering - industries that meet the needs of both the domestic and foreign markets. At the same time, ferrous metallurgy, which is a priority in the region, somewhat reduced specific gravity in the production of industrial products, which indicates its continued crisis by 2005.

Ferrous metallurgy - the first in importance and the oldest industry, which accounted for almost 21% all products of the Urals. The share of the Urals in Russia: for the extraction of iron ore -about 20%, for steel and iron smelting, as well as for the production of finished rolled products - over 40%.

Iron ore is mined mainly at the Kachkanar GOK in the Sverdlovsk region. (over 9 million tons) on the basis of the largest (66%) iron ore reserves of the Urals, as well as in the Chelyabinsk region. - about 3 million tons. The missing amount of iron ore concentrate comes to the Urals from Kazakhstan, as well as from the Central Chernozem Region. Coking coal comes to the region from Kuzbass and, in small quantities, from the Pechora coal basin.

Ferrous and metallurgical complex of the region as part of the largest complete cycle plants - Nizhne-Tagilsky in the Sverdlovsk region, Orsk-Khalilovsky (Novotroitsky) in the Orenburg region. and Magnitogorsk in the Chelyabinsk region, as well as the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, concentrates more than 1 / 3 of the production of steel and finished rolled products in Russia. 60% of steel pipe production in the country is also concentrated here (including 2/3 in the Sverdlovsk region - at the Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant and 1/3 - at the Chelyabinsk Pipe Plant).

Ferrous metallurgy of the Urals is an export-oriented industry. The Magnitogorsk plant is the most active in the export of rolled steel, although at the same time it faces market restrictions (quotas) set by the leading steel importers - the US and the EEC countries.

Non-ferrous metallurgy is dynamically developing in the region in conditions of stable demand for non-ferrous metals in the world market. The production of non-ferrous metals (aluminum, copper, zinc, nickel, titanium and magnesium) is carried out in the Sverdlovsk region. (aluminum - at the Bogoslovsky and Ural aluminum smelters, copper - at the Krasnouralsk and Kirovograd copper smelters, and nickel - in Rezh), in the Chelyabinsk region. (zinc, refined copper, nickel), in the Orenburg region. (copper, nickel) and in the Perm region. (production of magnesium and titanium concentrate).

mechanical engineeringUral produced about 17% of the industrial output of the region and is concentrated in more than 150 large enterprises representing various sub-sectors. Heavy engineering is developed in the Sverdlovsk region. (plants "Uralmash", "Uralkhimmash", "Uralelektrotyazhmash"), Perm region. (production of mining equipment), Orenburg region. (equipment for metallurgical and miningcomplexes) and in the Republic of Bashkortostan (mining equipment plant in Ufa), heavy engineering is characterized by the highest metal consumption and is closely connected with the main metallurgical enterprises of the region. It is also important to note its potential for the technical re-equipment of the entire industrial complex of the Urals.

Transport engineering is developed in the Chelyabinsk region, where they produce trucks (Miass), wagons (Ust-Katav), road equipment - bulldozers, motor graders, excavators, as well as heavy tractors. Trucks and cars are made at the plants of Izhmash JSC in Izhevsk in Udmurtia. Motorcycles are also produced there (Irbit). in the Kurgan region. they produce buses, in Orenburg (Orsk) - transport trailers, in Sverdlovsk - wagons of higher carrying capacity (Nizhny Tagil).

Enterprises in the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions specialize in machine tool building and the production of weapons technology. and in Udmurtia. In Udmurtia, the production of small arms has long been established.

Aircraft engines are produced in the Perm region, where the production of electrical equipment is also planned.

Kurgan region stands out for the production of agricultural machinery.

Precision engineering - electronic industry and radio engineering - is most developed in Udmurtia.

The machine-building complex of the Urals is oversaturated with military-industrial complex enterprises, which significantly complicates their conversion and requires large investments. Therefore, a certain time must pass before the products of high-tech enterprises gain a foothold in the domestic and foreign markets.

The share of the Urals in the production and sales of metal-cutting machine tools, excavators, equipment for the chemical industry and agriculture in the domestic Russian market ranges from 20 to 40%.

In the Urals, there are significant capacities for the production of consumer goods in the engineering industry, which allows the production of up to 30% of refrigerators and washing machines, 70% of motorcycles in Russia. The output of consumer goods can be restored to the previous level and further increased due to the conversion of the defense complex.

Fuel and energy complex (fuel and energy complex) of the Urals is one of the most powerful in the country. In terms of electricity production, the district is in third place after the Center and Eastern Siberia. As part of the power plants of the Urals: 90% of thermal power plants (including Iriklinskaya, Reftinskaya, Troitskaya, Sredneuralskaya, Yuzhno-Uralskaya, the largest Permskaya GRES (4.8 million kW), etc.), two large hydroelectric power plants (Kamskaya and Botkinskaya) and one atomic - Beloyarskaya, working on fast neutrons.

Oil production in the region in 2004 amounted to about 38 million tons (12.5% ​​of production in Russia), including about 1/3 in Bashkortostan, 1/5 in Udmurtia, and the rest - approximately equally - in the Orenburg and Perm region

The oil refining industry is represented by large refineries operating in Ufa, Salavat, Perm, Orsk and other cities. The emerging structural shifts in oil refining are associated with the deepening of oil refining, the reconstruction and expansion of enterprises.

Gas production - 28 billion m 3 (2000) is concentrated mainly in the Orenburg region. A large gas chemical complex has been created in Orenburg, on the basis of which sulfur, stable condensate, liquefied gases, helium, and ethane are produced. Orenburg also receives sour gas from the Karachaganak field in Kazakhstan for processing.

Coal production in the Urals is constantly declining due to the high cost and low demand for it, and now it is about 7.5 million tons (3% of the total Russian production).

Chemical industry WER is characterized by 15-35% share in Russia for the production of sulfuric acid, soda ash, mineral fertilizers.

Perm region occupies a leading position in the production of mineral fertilizers (about 4 million tons, or 1 / 3 in the Russian Federation), mainly potash, obtained on the basis of the resources of the world's largest Upper Kama saline basin. The largest enterprises in the region producing various mineral fertilizers are Uralkali, Silvinit, and Azot. Nitrogen fertilizers are also produced in Magnitogorsk and Nizhny Tagil using metallurgical coke oven gas. Phosphate fertilizers are produced in Krasnouralsk, Sverdlovsk region. from imported Khibiny apatites.

The sulfuric acid industry is developing on the basis of local resources of sulfur pyrites and metallurgy waste (centers in Revda and Kirovograd, Sverdlovsk Region). The Urals is also a major producer of organic synthesis products, the most famous centers are Ufa (Eashneftekhimzavody JSC), Salavat, Perm, etc. Up to 15% of polymeric materials (synthetic resins and plastics) are annually produced on the basis of hydrocarbon raw materials in Russia. The Ural petrochemical enterprises are part of the large company SIBUR (Siberian-Ural), which supplies organic synthesis products to the domestic market of Russia and for export (with the participation of RAO Gazprom).

On the territory of the Chelyabinsk region, in the city of Snezhinsk, there is one of the most important centers for research and pilot production in the field of the nuclear industry - the Mayak mining and chemical plant. The activity of this enterprise has caused serious environmental problems associated with the formation as a result of an accident that occurred in the 1970s, the Chelyabinsk radioactive trace.

Forest complex. The enterprises of this complex produced about 11% of commercial timber, 15% of sawn timber, and 17% of paper in Russia. Timber industry enterprises produce products mainly for domestic consumption and are located in the industrial centers of the Perm and Sverdlovsk regions. (Pulp and paper mill in Krasnokamsk, Solikamsk, Krasnovishersk, woodworking enterprises in Perm and Serov).

2. Basic principles and factors of industrial location in the Urals

2.1. Theoretical foundations of placement

Metallurgy includes a number technological processes, among them: 1) mining of metal ores; 2) enrichment of metal ores; 2) extraction and refining of metals; 4) obtaining products from metal powders; 5) crystal-physical methods of metal refining; 6) casting of metals and alloys and production of ingots; 7) processing of metals by pressure; 8) thermal, thermomechanical and chemical-thermal treatment of metals to obtain the desired properties.

When deciding on the location of metallurgical enterprises, the presence, as a rule, of the necessary raw materials, fuel and energy base and water resources in the construction areas is of decisive importance.

Plants with a complete metallurgical production cycle include sequentially the smelting of iron, steel, as well as the production of rolled products (rails, beams, sheets, etc.). The main raw material is iron ore, and coke and partly gas are used as fuel. It is known that smelting 1 ton of pig iron requires from 1.6 to 2.5 or more tons of iron ore (depending on the content of pure iron in it), from 0.75 to 1.1 tons of coke, or from 1.0 to 1 ,8 t of coking coal, 0.5 t of limestone and 10 to 20 M 3 /t of water with its reuse. In addition, manganese ore and refractories are needed in the production of cast iron. In general, about 6 tons of raw materials, fuel and other materials are required for 1 ton of finished products (rolled products).

The territorial organization of metallurgy, primarily ferrous metallurgy, is influenced by: 1) material consumption of production. For the manufacture of 1 ton of steel, up to 7 tons of raw materials and fuel are consumed. The consumption of raw materials and fuel in non-ferrous metallurgy is even greater: to produce 1 ton of lead or zinc, 16 tons of ore and 2–3 tons of fuel are needed; for 1 ton of tin - more than 300 tons of ore and 1 ton of fuel; for 1 ton of titanium or magnesium - 15-16 tons of ore and 30-60 thousand kWh of electricity, etc. In all costs for smelting pig iron, 85-90% falls on raw materials and fuel; 2) the complexity of production. On average, each metallurgical plant employs 20–40 thousand people, which, with an average family coefficient, means that at least 90 thousand people are somewhat dependent on this plant; 3) energy intensity of production. Thus, the share of total energy costs in the cost of domestic rolled products is 30-40% (in Germany - 22%); 4) large capital intensity. Significant material costs are required for the construction and maintenance of metallurgical enterprises; 5) negative impact on the environment; 6) concentration of production; 7) production combination; 8) the need to apply technological innovations. Thus, many developed countries (Japan, Great Britain, Germany) basically abandoned the traditional open-hearth method of steel smelting due to large losses in the blast-furnace process; the production of converter steel and electric steel is expanding. The continuous method of casting steel is widely practiced, which makes it possible to reduce the energy consumption for the production of 1 ton of steel by 45–50% (in the total steel production, its production by continuous casting accounts for: in Russia - 25%, Japan - more than 94, the USA - more than 75% ). The practice of using powder metallurgy is expanding, making it possible to use additives to impart new positive qualities to steel; 9) a powerful area-forming factor are enterprises of ferrous metallurgy with a full technological cycle.

2.2. Practical influence of factors on the location of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy in the Urals

iron ore base

The natural basis of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy is the sources of metal raw materials and fuel. Russia is well provided with raw materials for the development of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. Most of the explored ore deposits are rich (not requiring enrichment) and easily enriched with an average iron content of 36.9%. But iron resources and fuel are unevenly distributed throughout the country. More than 50% of all balance iron ore reserves are concentrated in the European part of the Russian Federation.

In Western Siberia - the ores of Gornaya Shoria and Ore Altai (reserves are more than 1 billion tons); in Eastern Siberia - the Angara-Pitsky, Angara-Ilimsky basins, etc., located in the Angara region, Kuznetsk Alatau and Transbaikalia (balance reserves - more than 4 billion tons).

Deposits of manganese ores are represented by Usinsky in Western Siberia.

Given the overall rather large raw material base of iron ores, the regions experiencing their shortage are Western Siberia, where it is necessary to continue exploration work in order to strengthen the raw material base of existing enterprises.

Manganese and chromium ores are very scarce. The explored reserves of these metals on the territory of Russia account for 5 and 3% of the total reserves of the CIS, respectively, with the needs of 40 and 38%. At present, the demand for these ores is covered by imports from Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The Russian Federation meets about 15% of its needs for iron ore and ferrous metals through imports from other states.

Ferrous metallurgy of the full cycle, conversion and small metallurgy differ in terms of location. Ferrous metallurgy of the full cycle is located on the territory of the Russian Federation: 1) near sources of raw materials (Ural metallurgical base, metallurgical base of the central regions of the European part); 2) near fuel resources (West Siberian metallurgical base); 3) between sources of raw materials and fuel resources (Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant).

Fuel resources

The geographical remoteness of metallurgical enterprises from raw materials and fuel and energy bases would lead to large unproductive transportation costs and an increase in the cost of production.

Metallurgical plants are located, as a rule, in areas where iron ore is located or in areas of coal deposits (in Kuzbass). For a long time, the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant was supplied with Kuzbass coal, and the Kuznetsk Metallurgical Plant was supplied with Ural iron ore. At present, these raw material links between the Urals and Kuzbass have been terminated due to the exhaustion of ore resources. Kuzbass switched to Siberian ore, and Magnitogorsk - to Kazakhstani ore and KMA ore.

Given that smelting 1 ton of steel requires 0.6 tons of pig iron and about 0.2 tons of fuel (in conventional terms), steel production is concentrated mainly at blast furnace plants. Metallurgical enterprises producing special steels and ferroalloys consume a large amount of electricity and therefore are located not only near sources of raw materials, but also in areas with cheap electricity.

In quantitative terms, in the European part, explored ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals significantly predominate over coal reserves, in the eastern regions there are more fuel than raw materials. A favorable combination of iron ores and coking coal is typical for Western Siberia (Gornaya Shoria - Kuzbass).

A big problem in the prospective development of the ferrous metallurgy of the region is the provision of the West Siberian Metallurgical Plant with raw materials. Currently, it works on imported raw materials (94%). Iron ore is supplied from the Korshunonskoye deposit (distance 1900 km) and Lisakovskoye (Kazakhstan). Of economic interest are the supplies of ore from the Kursk magnetic anomaly. When it is delivered, empty timber can be used, which transports coal to the Central Black Earth region, and ore back. This will reduce the cost of transporting iron ore by almost 1.5 times.

Ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy is one of the basic branches of heavy industry and is characterized by high material and capital intensity of production. The share of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy accounts for almost 90% of the total volume of structural materials used in industry. Metallurgical cargoes make up about 35% of the freight turnover of the railways. Ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy consume 25% of the fuel and energy resources consumed by Russian industry.

Here it is important to refute the arguments that since our electricity prices are lower than in developed countries, their increase is natural. This is a typical use of statistical indicators to distort the essence of the issue, since specific conditions and the structure of the mass of goods, production costs, the purchasing power of currencies are ignored. To compare domestic prices in different countries, experts use purchasing power parity. Taking into account the corresponding index determined by the World Bank, Russian prices for electricity in 2004 roughly corresponded to prices in Europe and America, for oil they were doubled, for fuel oil - one and a half times.

One of the key tasks of RAO UES reform is the creation of a single electricity market. The mechanisms of this market are still vague. AT last days December 2002, in fact, it was decided to divide the electricity market into separate private companies. The benefit of this for many enterprises in the metallurgical industry seems to be very doubtful. Often large power plants were built in conjunction with energy-intensive metallurgical industries, cheap electricity compensated for other costs associated with climatic conditions, transport distance, etc. The single market will level everything. The following question also arises: how, in the conditions of the splitting of the UES into private generating companies, the flow of energy within eleven time zones will be ensured, which was a clear advantage of the Soviet energy system. Now the technical, organizational and economic possibilities for this are either absent or are being replaced by verbal tightrope walking.

Recently, some concern has been expressed on the part of state bodies about the lack of control over the activities of industries - natural monopolies. In January of this year, the limits for raising prices and tariffs were even determined. I don't think this should be comforting. It is necessary to drive a kind of wedge into the “gap” that has been formed, reasonably and reasonably, relying at the same time on foreign experience. This includes cooperation with a single tariff authority, constant analysis of the situation with subsequent submission of proposals during periods of price and tariff changes, and the implementation of reasonable protectionism in relation to large stable consumers of goods and services of monopolists, which is especially important for the aluminum and ferroalloy sub-sectors. One of the ways out of the pressure zone of RAO UES is the creation of unified energy and metallurgical companies, including by building their own generating capacities at the plants. Already today, the share of consumption of own electricity at the enterprises of the industry is on average 15%. By the way, such a way of supplying metallurgy with electricity is also outlined in China's long-term development plan.

Inevitable, especially in the current situation, is a sharp improvement in the work of metallurgical enterprises in terms of energy saving. The experience accumulated in recent years indicates a qualitatively new approach to solving this problem. If earlier the emphasis was on reducing direct losses and utilizing energy resources, now the main focus has been the introduction of energy-saving technologies, integrated programming and energy management. There are also some positive results. At many ferrous metallurgy enterprises, there is a steady downward trend in the level of specific energy consumption.

Human Resources

High costs of labor resources at domestic metallurgical enterprises. Thus, we have 8.5–15 man-hours per 1 ton of finished steel, which is 1.5–2 times more than in countries with developed ferrous metallurgy: South Korea, Brazil, China (Taiwan). Low labor productivity at ferrous metallurgy enterprises leads to the fact that the competitiveness of domestic metal products can only be ensured while maintaining the lowest existing level. wages(19-30% of the level of the most developed countries). Hourly wages at Russian metallurgical enterprises are an order of magnitude lower (Table 2.1).

However, inside Russia, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy leads in terms of labor productivity. Compared to the pre-reform level, the level of labor productivity in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy is 71%, in non-ferrous metallurgy - about 60%, while in the oil, gas industry and the electric power industry from 35 to 46%, and in terms of wages - the opposite is true.

Table 2.1. – Structure of production costs metallurgical complex (in current prices; % of the total of all production costs)

Other raw materials and water sources

In conversion metallurgy, the raw material is mainly scrap metal (waste from metallurgical production, machine-building enterprises, depreciation scrap). Therefore, such enterprises are guided by areas with developed mechanical engineering and places of consumption of finished products. This makes it possible to smelt more steel than cast iron, which is 12–15 times cheaper. Small-scale metallurgy is even more closely connected with machine-building plants.

The production of electric steels and ferroalloys is distinguished by special placement factors.

Water resources play an important role.

Transport factor

An important role in metallurgy is played by the transport factor, which is associated with the cost of transporting raw materials, fuel, semi-finished products, finished products, especially taking into account the steady increase in transport tariffs.

Excessive concentration of production in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy also has negative consequences. The cost of transporting finished products is greatly increased, which has to be transported from several large factories throughout the vast country - after all, metal is required everywhere. In Russia, with its vast territory, transportation costs are especially high. In the 90s. 20th century every tenth ton of cargo transported by the country's railways is ferrous and non-ferrous metals.

The most energy-intensive industries are concentrated in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. Hundreds of millions of tons of raw materials, semi-finished products and finished products are transported over distances measured in thousands of kilometers. More than 30 million tons of products and ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals are exported with a transportation distance of 2.5-5 thousand km. In the cost of production, the energy and transport components now reach 25% against 12.5% ​​in 1991 and about 15% in Western Europe.

In 1998, tariffs for the transportation of iron ore and coal were reduced by 25%, which allowed metallurgists to save about 2 billion rubles. on an annual basis, to reduce the transport component in the cost of final products. But by the end of the year, with the consent of the Government, tariffs were increased by 10%, then they were increased periodically. Due to the growth of freight rates in August-September 2000, the total losses of enterprises in the ferrous metallurgy alone amounted to about 30 million dollars per month, and at enterprises in Western Siberia and the Urals, the profitability of production decreased by 7-10%. In 2004, prices for ferrous metals increased by 3.5 times, and for gas, electricity and freight transportation by 1.2-1.3 times. The profit of ferrous metallurgy enterprises at the same level of internal costs has almost halved.

With such price and tariff arbitrariness, and even under the banner of restructuring the industries of natural monopolists, ferrous metallurgy, according to experts, will become completely unprofitable in the coming years, since metal prices have practically reached the ceiling determined by the world market.

Now is the most crucial time to prevent the harmful consequences of the impending threat. Under the Commission of the Government of the Russian Federation for the reform of railway transport, a Public Council has been created and is operating, consisting of representatives of industries and science. The main task of this council is to prepare for the Government of the Russian Federation expert opinions on the draft federal laws "On Railway Transport of the Russian Federation" and "Charter of Railway Transport of the Russian Federation". Metallurgists, who provide more than 37% of tariff payments to railways, need a stable, highly organized, technically equipped railway transport. In our country, with its geographical features and the historically established distribution of productive forces, only with the centralized management of the transportation process can the material flows of the metallurgical industry, and, apparently, the flows of other raw materials and fuel sectors of the national economy, be ensured.

The leaders of metallurgical companies oppose such a form and content of the work of the Ministry of Railways and railways, when the interests of the domestic commodity producer are ignored, and only the desire to receive payments for services in amounts that are not adequate to the costs and economic situation of the clientele of backbone industries prevails, there is a unilateral change in the rules of the "game" without studying their consequences, both in commodity markets and for specific commodity producers.

Modern large metallurgical enterprises are combines in which, in addition to the production of iron, steel, and rolled products, there are coke-chemical enterprises, sinter plants, chemical plants producing benzene, ammonia and other chemical products; production of mineral fertilizers, resins, medicines, as well as the production of various building materials - cement, block products, wall panels.

In the conditions of a market economy, large ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy plants created workshops for the production of household appliances (refrigerators, televisions, washing machines and other products), as well as large agricultural workshops, including greenhouses, livestock farms and food processing workshops. Large iron and steel works have their own powerful energy base and source of water supply.

The large metallurgical enterprises of the Urals, especially the combines, are of great district-forming importance. When they arise, a number of interrelated industries are formed - the electric power industry, the chemical industry, the production of building materials, metal-intensive engineering, various related industries and, of course, transport.

The most typical satellites of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy: a) thermal power industry, primarily installations that are part of metallurgical plants and can operate on secondary fuel (surplus blast-furnace gas, coke, coke breeze); b) metal-intensive engineering (metallurgical and mining equipment, heavy machine tools, metal structures, locomotives, etc.).

So p enterprises of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy with a full technological cycle act as a powerful district-forming factor. The need to use side fuel (coke oven gas, coke breeze) involves thermal power engineering in the technical and economic process; metal-intensive engineering tends to sources of raw materials and places of consumption of finished products; the chemical industry uses numerous wastes of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy as raw materials; light and food industries contribute to a more rational use of women's labor. As a result, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy contributes to the emergence of diverse and powerful industrial complexes around it.

3. Map-scheme of the distribution of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy in the Urals and its analysis

At present, the Ural Metallurgical Base accounts for most of the domestic production of manganese and chromite ores, about 1/5 of iron ores, about half of the pig iron, steel, finished rolled products and steel pipes produced in the country, as well as most of the ferroalloys smelted in Russia. The main part of the iron ore of the base is mined in the Sverdlovsk region at the Kachkanar group of deposits and in the Orsk-Khalilovsky mines, where almost all domestic chromites are mined. Manganese ores are mined on an extremely limited scale in the Middle Urals.

More than 80% of the smelting of pig iron, steel, ferroalloys and most of the Ural rolled products come from four large metallurgical plants built during the years of socialist industrialization: Magnitogorsk - the largest in Russia, Nizhny Tagil, Chelyabinsk and Novotroitsk. In addition, there are a number of old, relatively small metallurgical plants. Many of them produce high-quality metal, often using expensive, but low-sulfur wood coke. The most significant of them are Serovsky, Chusovsky, Izhevsk and Zlatoust plants. The qualitative profile of the Ural metallurgy depends on the specifics of local raw materials. The Urals is the only place in the country with the smelting of naturally alloyed steels.

The important advantages of the Ural Base of Ferrous Metallurgy include:

qhigh territorial concentration of fixed production assets;

qthe presence of the most numerous contingent of highly qualified metallurgists in the country;

qa wide network of secondary and higher educational institutions that train qualified personnel for the industry;

qa large number of research and design organizations of the metallurgical profile;

qthe presence of a large local consumer of ferrous metals in the face of a highly developed, mainly metal-intensive engineering industry, which simultaneously supplies the industry with the necessary equipment;

qthe abundance of scrap metal in the region, which is a serious help in replenishing the raw material base of the ferrous metallurgy.

The main shortcomings that hinder the further development of the Ural base of ferrous metallurgy include:

qthe narrowness of the local fuel and energy base and, first of all, the absence of own coking coal;

qdiscrepancy between the share of the Urals in the all-Russian reserves and production of iron ore and its share in domestic production ferrous metals;

qtense water balance;

qoutdated production equipment of the industry.

Coking coal is imported to the Urals from Kuzbass and Karaganda, iron ore from the neighboring Kustanai region of Kazakhstan and the Kursk magnetic anomaly, chromites from the Aktobe region of Kazakhstan, and manganese from Ukraine and Georgia.

4. The main problems of the development of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy in the Urals

Due to the reduction of domestic metal consumption in 1991–2000. Russian metallurgists have become the world's largest exporters of ferrous and, to some extent, non-ferrous metals. Moreover, the increase in export volumes occurred due to an increase in the export of billets by 3 times compared to 1992. In 2004, Russia sold abroad over 25 million tons of finished rolled products, including 9.3 million tons of billets, of which 4, 3 million tons - from section mills, as well as 3.8 million tons of cast slabs and billets.

Such a sharp entry of Russia into the foreign metal market is due to lower prices. As a result, in recent years there has been a sharp increase in anti-dumping processes by competitors in the world market against Russian exporters.

The situation on the world market for the nearest period is not very favorable for Russian exporters. The external market for export blanks has reached the upper limit, and the demand for this assortment will constantly decrease. The main market - China and the countries of Southeast Asia - becomes the object of fierce competition. In addition, ferrous metal production capacity is expected to be commissioned in the region, as well as significant stocks, which may lead to both lower prices and reduced import requirements for these countries.

The consumption of steel products by the states of Southeast Asia is 42.5% of the total world consumption. The flow of exports from Russia to China is quite large. Close attention should be paid to current investment in the Chinese steel industry. The information indicates that the largest importer of long products, China, which, according to experts, purchased about 10 million tons of long products in 2005, is taking active measures to produce long products at its enterprises. An example of this is the marked increase in the production of high-carbon steel wire rod. China's imports will be selective - first of all, these are products that are not produced on the domestic market or are produced in small volumes. This, for example, tin, galvanized sheet. Long products do not belong to this category. Opportunities to enter the market of the EU countries, which are also experiencing a period of glut, are sharply reduced. In countries of Eastern Europe experts predict growth in consumption of rolled metal products until 2007. The situation in the markets of ferrous and non-ferrous metals in Eastern Europe continues to strengthen, but in this market we have to compete with Western European countries, primarily with Germany.

Thus, after Russia gave up the state monopoly in foreign trade, the supply of black and colored metals on the world market rose sharply, which led to lower prices, as well as the initiation of anti-dumping proceedings against Russian suppliers. The commodity structure of Russian exports and imports of ferrous metals is different. If semi-finished products, pig iron, ferroalloys, steel semi-finished products, scrap and waste of ferrous metals play an important role in exports, then the main share in imports falls on flat products and especially cold-rolled sheets. The structure of exports and imports of black and colored metals reflects the main problems of the development of Russian metallurgy: insufficient quality of the final types of metal products; shortage of high-quality metal products, primarily cold-rolled sheets. This structure is a consequence of the insufficient competitiveness of domestic products in comparison with the products of metallurgical plants in Europe, North America, Japan and South Korea.

Further development of black and color oh metallurgy in Russia should go in the direction of improving the quality of the final types of metal products, reducing production costs and pursuing a resource-saving policy (increasing the metal utilization rate in mechanical engineering to 0.8, replacing cutting with stamping, pressing, using effective substitutes for metal products).

Thus, the main directions in the development of black and color oh metallurgy in the future is an improvement, first of all, in the quality of products, which is significantly lower than in foreign developed countries. Improving the quality of products is possible through the introduction of new efficient and environmentally friendly technologies, blast-furnace production, the development of enrichment technologies for oxidized ferruginous quartzites, the introduction of oxygen-converter and electric steel-smelting production and the gradual abandonment of the inefficient open-hearth method, as well as through the introduction of blast-furnace metallurgy, improving the structure of rolling production by increasing the output of cold-rolled sheets, rolled products with hardened heat treatment, high-precision and shaped profiles of rolled products, special and high-quality types of pipes, the development of powder metallurgy, special remelting, etc. The production of pipes for oil and gas pipelines will play a promising role increased strength, which is especially important for creating a system of offshore pipelines.

In addition to the quality indicators of steel products, the most important factors of its competitiveness are the cost of production, selling prices, organizational factors: the possibility of deliveries just in time, marking and packaging in accordance with the requirements of the buyer, taking into account export-import rules, etc.

The markets of developing countries are characterized by less stringent requirements for the quality of metal products, which allows us to consider the export potential of the Russian ferrous and color th metallurgy wider than the volume of metal products, limited to its certified types.

black and color Russian metallurgy has the necessary material, fuel and labor resources, production apparatus and scientific and technical potential for successful operation. The industry should become one of the economic priorities in industrial policy. Its role should be evaluated from the standpoint of national interests and national security. From this point of view, a high share of foreign producers in the domestic black market is unacceptable. and color th metals. In order to develop black and color oh metallurgy as an industry that ensures the economic security of the country, it is necessary to develop state program its survival and modernization, in which the main attention should be paid to the problem of increasing the competitiveness of metal products.

Resource saving and environmental protection, rational nature management are becoming more and more urgent problems for the development of regions for the extraction of iron ores and non-ferrous metal ores. Significant land areas are occupied by dump zones. Reclamation of most of the plots is not carried out. A third of the annual damage from land withdrawal falls on the shortage of agricultural products from these lands.

The integrated use of raw materials at all stages of its processing can become one of the sources of replenishment of resources. It has been determined that at least 30% of waste rock and up to 40% of enrichment waste, iron ores are suitable for the production of building materials and other products.

Dumps and slag pits also become centers of constant dusting, polluting the atmosphere and land. The rate of restoration of disturbed lands and their return to the national economy is still low, and the area of ​​uncultivated lands is growing.

Harmful emissions from mining enterprises have a negative impact on the state of air, vegetation and soil.

At the same time, western air currents bring acid precipitation to Russia from European countries, especially from Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ukraine and Belarus. Thus, in 2003, 405 thousand tons of sulfur compounds, brought from Ukraine, fell out in Russia, mainly from the Dnieper-Krivoy Rog industrial region, Kharkov region and Donbass.

Thus, the burden on nature increases sharply - emissions into the atmosphere, wastewater, areas under waste, etc. Metallurgy is one of the most "dirty" sectors of the economy. The share of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy is almost 40% of all industrial emissions into the atmosphere. Of the 44 Russian cities with the most polluted atmosphere, 13 are major metallurgical centers.

5. Promising directions for the development of the Ural region

The powerful research and production potential of the region is able to provide it with stable economic growth, but it needs structural changes.

As a result of economic reforms, the Urals remains a region that mainly exports unprocessed products. At present, the share of fuel, raw materials and products of their primary processing (metals, lumber, alumina, etc.) has increased in exports to 75–80%, and in exports has exceeded 90%. By the end of the 1990s. The Urals were increasingly turning into a region with raw materials.

At the same time, the heavy and medium industry of the Urals can already now become a base for the development and technical re-equipment of the entire regional economic complex.

The cooperation of the metallurgical and machine-building complex of the Urals with the fuel and energy and timber complexes of Western Siberia (including within the framework of the unified Ural District formed by the Decree of the President of Russia) can become extremely effective. Another area of ​​interregional cooperation is connected with the participation of the Urals in the development of the promising mineral resource base of the Komi Republic and other regions of the European North.

The territorial features of the economy of the Urals are determined by some differences in the specialization of its constituent regions, which, in turn, depends on their natural resource and production potentials, as well as agro-climatic conditions. It seems appropriate to distinguish the Northern Urals as part of the Republic of Udmurtia, Perm and Sverdlovsk regions, and the Southern Urals as part of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg and Kurgan regions.

Northern Urals in to a greater extent specializes in heavy and medium mechanical engineering, including high-tech industries, in non-ferrous metallurgy and the chemical industry - the production of mineral fertilizers. In the production of ferrous metals and food industry products, the share of the Northern and Southern Urals is approximately equal.

Prospects for the development of the Republic of Udmurtia are associated with the growth of manufacturing industries. In addition to improving the traditional industries - mechanical engineering, automotive, motorcycles and sporting rifles, there should be an increase in the production of products from the electronics industry and precision engineering. An investment project for the production of passenger cars is being developed jointly with the Czech Skoda.

In the Perm region mechanical engineering will have priority development towards the production of modern equipment for the fuel and energy complex, new generation aircraft engines, and electrical products.

In the Sverdlovsk region Structurally and technologically updated ferrous metallurgy and high-tech engineering industries can form the basis for the promising development of the region. Branches of specialization - machine tool building, power engineering, etc. maintain a high scientific and technical potential in the region, which ensures the production of competitive products for the domestic and world markets.

Southern Urals mainly specializes in transport and agricultural engineering, petrochemistry, fuel industry, as well as in the production of agricultural products.

In the Republic of Bashkortostan, the production of fuel and energy complex products (oil and its primary processing, electricity) and petrochemical products is concentrated. In the future, Bashneftekhimzavody JSC, the leader in the republic, will have to transfer production to a new technological basis that ensures the production of competitive products. It is also planned to increase the production of medicines here, which should make Bashkortostan one of the leading manufacturers of pharmaceutical products in the country. The republic has a developed agro-industrial complex. In terms of gross harvest of cereals, potatoes, sugar beet, and meat production, Bashkortostan ranks first in the region.

In the Chelyabinsk region energy, metallurgy and mechanical engineering (machine tool building and automotive industry) receive priority development. Export-oriented industries are gaining strength: the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Chelyabinsk plants - tractor, road machinery and automobile. In 1998, the Chelyabinsk region. within the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe project "Energy Efficiency - 2000", one of the first in Russia was awarded the status of "High Energy Efficiency Demonstration Zone". Therefore, the implementation of a comprehensive energy saving program in the region is of current importance.

In the Orenburg region it is necessary to strengthen the base of the gas processing and gas chemical industries. The decline in hydrocarbon production should be compensated by an increase in the depth of their processing, primarily at the Orsk refinery. The reconstruction of the metallurgical complex will be continued in order to improve the quality of metal in ferrous metallurgy and the use of multicomponent ores in non-ferrous metallurgy.

Kurgan region stands out in the Urals for the production of grain, as well as engineering products (buses, agricultural machines). Most of the machine-building enterprises are concentrated in the cities of Kurgan and Shadrinsk, which poses the problem of dispersing the industry to other cities where small modern enterprises can be built.

The diversified industrial, transport (dense network of railways, roads, pipelines) and agricultural complexes of the Urals determine favorable prerequisites for its long-term socio-economic development, provided that complex problems of economic restructuring and environmental safety of the population are solved.

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FEATURES OF THE ECONOMY. The leading industry specialization in the Urals is ferrous metallurgy

The leading industry specialization in the Urals is ferrous metallurgy. The foundations of the metallurgical industry were laid during the reign of Peter I. The construction of iron and iron works began in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. At the end of the XVIII century. The Urals supplied iron not only to Russia, but also to Western Europe. Gradually, the Ural industry fell into decline. This was due to the remnants of serfdom, the bondage of the Ural workers, the technical backwardness of the Urals, isolation from the center of Russia, as well as the emerging metallurgy of the southern part of Russia.

At present, the most significant of the old reconstructed factories are Zlatoust, Verkh-Isetsky, Lysvensky, Chusovsky. However, 80% of the metal is produced by new plants and combines - Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil and Orsko-Khalilovsky. In general, in the production of pig iron, steel and rolled products, the Urals ranks first in the Russian Federation. The geography of Ural metallurgy has also changed. In the past, with a large number of iron ore deposits throughout the Urals, the geography of the fuel for metallurgy - forests - was of decisive importance. Most of the factories were located in the Central and Northern Urals, rich in forests. With the transition to mineral fuel - coking coal, coming here from Kuzbass and Karaganda, their proximity to the largest iron ore bases has become decisive in the location of metallurgical plants. So, in the area of ​​Mount Magnitnaya, the Magnitogorsk Combine was built. Near the mountains High, Grace, Swan-Nizhny Tagil. The Chelyabinsk combine uses the Bakal ores, the Orsko-Khalilovsky is located near the complex Khalilov ores. Thus, the main metallurgical centers moved from the north and the center to the south of the Urals. However, to date, the iron and steel industry of the Urals is experiencing difficulties with the supply of ore, since many deposits are significantly depleted. Therefore, iron ores for the metallurgy of the Urals have to be imported from other regions (KMA, Northern Kazakhstan). Concerning Special attention is given to expanding its own raw material base, in particular, the development of the Kachkanar titanomagnetite deposit.

Of the old metallurgical enterprises, the capacity of the Serov Plant, which smelts special high-quality metal on charcoal, has been significantly increased; Chusovsky, which produces transformer steel, Zlatoustovsky, Izhevsk, which produces tool steel, and others. Ferroalloy and pipe plants have been built.

It is assumed that in the future the volumes of production of iron, steel and rolled products in the Ural region will be reduced. This is due to the all-Russian trend of improving the use of ferrous metals in engineering and construction, a sharp reduction in defense products.

An important branch of specialization of the Ural region is non-ferrous metallurgy. In terms of copper smelting, the district holds the first place in the Russian Federation. Copper smelters are located near copper deposits on the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains. Many factories have now been reconstructed. The largest of them are the Kyshtym Electrolytic Plant (Chelyabinsk Region), the Kirovograd Copper Smelter (Sverdlovsk Region). On the basis of the new Raisky copper deposit, the country's largest Mednogorsk plant (Orenburg region) arose. Most copper smelters specialize in smelting blister copper. A large plant for the production of refined copper operates in Verkhnyaya Pyshma (Sverdlovsk Region). The copper industry of the Urals is usually associated with the chemical industry producing sulfuric acid.

The aluminum industry is represented by bauxite mining, alumina production and aluminum smelting. Alumina production has been set up in the Sverdlovsk region, aluminum is being smelted, one of the country's largest aluminum smelting plants is operating in Kamensk-Uralsky, and a large aluminum plant is operating in Krasnoturinsk. Until recently, the Urals was the main producer of aluminum in the country. New raw material bases for the aluminum industry have now been created. The significance and role of the Urals in this important branch of non-ferrous metallurgy has significantly decreased. The possibilities of its growth here are limited by both raw materials and energy resources.

The Urals is one of the main nickel-smelting regions in the Russian Federation. The nickel industry is represented by the large Ufaley and Orsk combines and the Rezh plant. Magnesium is produced in Solikamsk and Berezniki. The zinc industry is represented only by the Chelyabinsk plant, which uses waste from the processing of copper ores in the Urals, where zinc is also found in a number of deposits.

The second leading link of the Urals are mechanical engineering and metalworking; the value of the output of these industries exceeds the output of the entire metallurgy of the region. In the past, mechanical engineering was extremely poorly developed, it provided only about 10% of the industrial output of the Urals and produced mostly simple agricultural implements (sickles, scythes, plows, etc.). Nowadays, in terms of the scale of development of mechanical engineering in our country, the Urals is second only to the Central Region. Heavy metal-intensive engineering, close to the main metal bases, has received the greatest development here. Ural ranks first in the country in the production of metallurgical, handling and oil and gas drilling equipment. The famous Uraltyazhmash in Yekaterinburg produces the most powerful excavators and other sophisticated equipment, the Perm plant - oil drills, Orsky Yuzhuralmash - tunneling machines for the mining industry.

Transport engineering has received significant development. In Nizhny Tagil, the country's largest railcar building plant produces freight cars; passenger cars - Ust-Katavsky plant in the Chelyabinsk region. Trucks are produced in Miass, Moskvich cars and motorcycles are produced in Izhevsk, and a bus plant is located in Kurgan.

The Urals occupies an important place in the production of products of the energy, electrical and machine-tool industries. In Yekaterinburg, production of hydraulic and thermal turbines and electric motors is concentrated, in Perm - diesel industry, production of cables, transformers and high-voltage equipment.

Agricultural engineering is developed in the Urals: one of the oldest and largest Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, Perm, Botkinsky (Udmurtia) animal husbandry plants, which produce, in particular, milking machines, are located here. The Kurganselmash plant produces special tillage implements for the arid steppes of the Trans-Urals and virgin lands. In Yekaterinburg, Zlatoust, machine tool building and tool production are developed, in Ufa - motor building, production of equipment for the petrochemical industry. The development of machine-building production in the region is associated with the development of new machines and equipment, the reconstruction and technological renewal of existing enterprises based on the latest achievements of scientific and technological progress, and the introduction of advanced forms of production organization. The completion of the conversion of enterprises of the defense complex, the transfer of enterprises of this complex to the production of civilian products will be important for the successful operation of the industry.

The third place in terms of the cost of production in the structure of the industry of the Urals is logging, woodworking and pulp and paper industries. This is one of the few forest-rich regions of the Russian Federation. Timber reserves are represented here mainly by coniferous species. The main massifs of industrial forests are located in the Perm and Sverdlovsk regions and partly in Bashkortostan and Udmurtia. In terms of timber harvesting, the Urals ranks third in the country after the Northern Region and Eastern Siberia. Wood is rafted along the Kama and Volga to the southern regions of the country. The pulp and paper industry of the Urals accounts for 1/5 of the paper production in the country. The centers of the paper industry are Krasnokamsk, Krasnovishersk, Solikamsk, Perm. The mills in these cities produce the best grades of writing, cartographic, and even stamped paper. In connection with the construction of the Ivdel - Ob road in the northeast of the Urals, new timber processing complexes are being created, which will partially use the forests of the Tyumen region; in Ivdel, Sosva, Novaya Lyalya, a large woodworking industry is developed.

In the future, the forestry complex of the Urals faces the task of increasing the efficiency of using forest resources, primarily for environmental purposes, by improving their condition and developing protective afforestation. In the woodworking complex, it is necessary to increase the output of high-quality end products, to use wood more fully and deeply.

Among the leading industries of the Urals is chemical industry. Its main products are mineral fertilizers, sulfuric acid, soda and organic synthesis products. The potash industry stands out in particular, represented by the largest potash plants in Solikamsk and Berezniki. The centers of the chemical industry are also cities in which metallurgy is developed. The production of sulfuric acid is based on waste from ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. In Berezniki, a nitrogen-fertilizer production was created, in Perm - the production of phosphorus fertilizers. In Bashkortostan (in Salavat), production of nitrogen fertilizers operates on the basis of natural and associated gas. A large soda industry operates at local salt and limestone deposits in Sterlitamak. Coke chemistry, aniline and paint and varnish industries, wood chemistry are developed in the region.

The share of the Urals accounts for about 1/3 of the all-Russian production of soda ash, the scale of production of caustic soda is significant, petrochemistry is developed (Perm), and the formation of gas chemistry in the Orenburg region has begun. A gas processing plant was built here, which cleans gas for its transportation through the Orenburg-Western border gas pipeline.

In the inter-district division of social labor stands out building materials industry Ural. Thus, the district ranks fourth in the country in terms of cement production. Large cement plants are located in Nizhny Tagil, Magnitogorsk, Novotroitsk.

In the Urals light and food industry not yet developed enough. A lot of consumer goods and foodstuffs from other regions of the country are imported into the region. Of the branches of light industry, the most developed are leather and footwear, knitwear and clothing. About 80% of the capacities of the leather and footwear industry are located in the Sverdlovsk, Perm, Chelyabinsk regions, and most of the knitwear enterprises are concentrated here. The cotton industry is developed in the Chelyabinsk region, the silk industry in the Perm and Orenburg regions.

The food industry has many sub-sectors and enterprises, most of which are concentrated in the south of the Urals, in the agricultural development zone. The flour-grinding industry has historically developed in the main zone of wheat crops - in the Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions, in Bashkortostan and partly in the Sverdlovsk region, the meat industry is most developed here. Kurgan and Orenburg regions stand out for the production of animal oil.

An important branch of the Urals is fuel and energy economy. The development of heat-intensive and energy-intensive industries in the Urals requires a large number fuel and energy. To obtain energy, local resources of brown and hard coal(Kizelovsky, Kopeysky, Kumertaussky basins), but these reserves are insignificant and in recent years their production has been declining. Ural receives electricity and fuel from other regions. Coking coals are completely imported here from Kuzbass and Karaganda, cheap energy coals - from Kuzbass and Ekibastuz. In total, almost twice as much coal is imported in terms of tonnage than is mined in the region itself. Until the 70s. Urals received oil mainly from the Volga region, Kazakhstan, Western Siberia, natural gas - from the Tyumen region and Central Asia. Now oil is produced in the Perm and Orenburg regions, in the Republics of Bashkortostan and Udmurtia. Oil and gas refineries operate in Perm, Krasnokamsk and Orsk. There are five powerful oil refineries in Bashkortostan. A powerful territorial production complex is being developed on the basis of the Orenburg gas condensate enterprise. Orenburg gas contains condensate and sulfur. In addition to methane, it contains ethane, propane, butane, as well as other hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide, gas sulfur, helium, nitrogen.

The main gas reserves are located in a very small area. The depth of productive horizons is 1200 - 1800 m. The composition of gas and condensate requires complex processing, separation of gas from hydrogen sulfide, extraction of hydrocarbons, production of methane and sulfur on an industrial scale. The main consumers of Orenburg gas are the regions of the Urals and the Volga region. Gas is transported through gas pipelines: Orenburg - Samara, Orenburg - Zainek, Orenburg - Sterlitamak, Orenburg - Novopskovsk. Through the gas pipeline built through the European part of Russia, Orenburg gas began to flow to European countries. The length of the new gas pipeline is 2,750 km.

In Orenburg, a large-scale production of heavy organic synthesis is being established, a powerful hydrocarbon raw material base has been created for the production of rubber, chemical fibers, plastics and mineral fertilizers. There is a production of cheap gas sulfur from gas and condensate as a result of desulfurization. Gas processing and helium plants were built. Orenburg gas makes it possible to create a powerful energy base in the region, including the Iriklinskaya GRES, the new Orenburg GRES, the Samara and Kargalinskaya thermal power plants. A number of oil fields have been discovered on the territory of the complex. In terms of the total capacity of power plants, the Urals ranks second in the Russian Federation. More than twice as much electricity is produced here per capita than in Russia as a whole. The largest thermal power plant is Karmanovskaya in Bashkortostan (1.8 million kW). In addition to the largest thermal power plants operating on coal and peat, there are two hydroelectric power plants on the Kama - Kama and Botkinskaya. Near Yekaterinburg, the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant was built. The Ural Energy System is part of the Unified Energy System of the European part of Russia.

By gross output Agriculture The Urals occupies a prominent place among the economic regions of the Russian Federation, including the second in animal husbandry, and the fourth in crop production. About 3/4 of arable land and more than 1/2 of hayfields and pastures are concentrated in the south - in the steppe and forest-steppe zone. The structure of crops in the Urals is as follows: cereals - 70.5%, industrial crops - 1.4%, potatoes - 3.3%, fodder - 24.8%. In terms of grain collection, the Urals are inferior to the Volga and North Caucasian, and sometimes West Siberian regions. Of industrial crops, sunflower is sown in the south, sugar beet is sown in Bashkortostan, fiber flax is sown in Udmurtia and the Komi-Permyatsk Autonomous Okrug. Compared to other regions of the Russian Federation, the Urals stands out for its millet crops. With the growth of the urban population, the areas under vegetables and potatoes are increasing.

The Urals has a rich fodder base, so animal husbandry of various directions is developed everywhere. In the north, fodder crops are sown along with flax, beef cattle are bred, and horses, fine-fleeced and semi-fine-fleeced sheep are bred on dry pastures. The Urals, especially the Orenburg region, are famous for their high-quality wool. A center of downy goat breeding has developed here and the traditional production of the famous Orenburg downy shawls has been established. Beekeeping is developed in Bashkortostan.

Agricultural production in the Urals has its own specific problems. Thus, the strengthening of grain farming, primarily in the South Urals and the Trans-Urals (Kurgan, Orenburg regions), is associated with a set of works to create new promising varieties of intensive-type grain crops, improve the structure of sown areas, create differentiated tillage systems with an increase in the use of mineral fertilizers and other methods to improve soil quality.

Transport and economic relations The Urals have their own characteristics. The Ural economic region is one of the regions with the highest freight and passenger turnover in Russia. The leading place is occupied by railway transport. It accounts for 9/10 of freight traffic and most of passenger traffic. Meridional highways, of which the largest are Polunochnoye - Orsk (along the eastern slope of the Urals) and Solikamsk - Bakal (along the western), connect the cities located in the mining zone. Latitudinal roads provide connections with other regions of Russia. Of particular importance are the roads passing through Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg. These are double-track electrified roads with a high freight turnover. Water transport carries out internal and inter-district transportation. The main waterways are Kama, Belaya, Chusovaya, Vishera. Road transport predominates in intra-regional transportation.

The modern transport balance of the Urals for the export of goods by rail and waterways is more than 700 million tons. According to this indicator, the Urals occupies a leading position among the economic regions of Russia, and the interregional import and export are approximately equal. Most of the export from the Urals is carried out in the direction to the west, the import - from the east. Most of all, coal and iron ore are imported into the region; exported cars and metal, technological equipment and tools, raw materials and products of the oil refining and chemical industries, timber and timber products.

The prospects for the recovery of the economy of the Urals are associated with the deepening of national economic specialization in the production of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, mineral fertilizers, metal-intensive engineering products, and the pulp and paper industry. The task is to broaden the development of complexing industries, in particular, those serving the population of the light and food industries. On the modern foundations using the concept of ecological and economic zoning, tourist and recreational complexes should be delivered. The primary task is to bring the ecological situation in a number of places in line with the requirements of the current legislation. Significant investments and a targeted program of measures to protect the environment and rational use of the natural resources of the Urals are required to improve the environmental situation.

Since childhood, we know that the birthplace of the mistress of the copper mountain is the Urals. One of the most ancient mountain formations on earth holds countless riches, and although non-ferrous metallurgy in the Urals has been going through hard times over the past few decades, this region remains one of the largest centers of extraction and processing of non-ferrous metals not only in Russia, but also in the world.

A bit of history.

Copper, aluminum, zinc, nickel, gold are metals that have been mined and processed in the Ural region for many centuries. At the very beginning of the 18th century, the Gumeshevskoye copper clay deposit was discovered, and the first copper smelters appeared. At the beginning of the 20th century, non-ferrous metallurgy in the Urals developed at a very rapid pace, and in the 30s of the last century, the modern metallurgical complex received its foundations in the form of large non-ferrous metallurgy plants. Mechanical engineering, which developed rapidly in the first Soviet five-year plans, became the main consumer of the metallurgical industry, and nuclear power gave a new impetus to the development of the industry. Since 1934, bauxite deposits began to be actively developed in the Urals, which served as the basis for the aluminum industry of the region. And at about the same time, the development of a large nickel deposit, Lipovskoye, began. Gold, silver, platinum are precious metals that have long been mined and processed in the Urals, as well as titanium, magnesium and other valuable metals.

Copper.

The non-ferrous metals palm in the Urals belongs to copper - the mining, enrichment and smelting of copper in Russia takes a leading place precisely at the Ural enterprises. These are Mednogorsk, Krasnouralsk, Sredneuralsk, Kirovograd plants. But at the Kashtymsky and Verkhnepyshtinsky electrolytic plants, the next stage of its processing after smelting blister copper is refining. In total, 11 enterprises of the copper industry operate in the Urals. Since copper ores contain many components of other metals - zinc, gold, selenium, cadmium, copper plants also produce these metals.

Since the development of copper ore deposits has been going on for a long time, at the moment they are quite depleted and the region's copper smelters are provided with raw materials by about half.

Aluminum.

The aluminum industry of the Urals has its own raw materials. The Ural aluminum smelter was built near a bauxite deposit in the village of Kamensk (now the city of Kamensk-Uralsky). The Bogoslovsky aluminum plant is the largest aluminum enterprise in the Urals, which produced the first metal on May 9, 1945. The plant uses raw materials from the Severouralsky bauxite mine. These bauxites have a high aluminum content and relatively few impurities. But aluminum cannot be obtained directly from ore, first alumina is produced - a fine powder with a concentrated content of aluminum oxide, and only after that it is smelted from it at very high temperatures metal.

However, the problem is the deep occurrence of bauxites and the energy intensity of aluminum smelting in the Urals. Therefore, the enterprises of the industry must simultaneously solve the raw material problem at the expense of raw materials from other regions and the development of other deposits, as well as strengthening the energy base.

Nickel.

The first nickel deposits were discovered in the Urals at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, Ufaleysky, Orsky, Serovsky, Rezhsky and other districts in different regions of the Ural federal district are considered nickel-bearing. The largest deposit in the Middle Urals is the Serov deposit, where nickel reserves amount to hundreds of thousands of tons. Nickel production, or rather its smelting without enrichment, takes place at the Rezhsky Nickel Plant - Ufaleynickel. Until recently, the largest nickel enterprise in the Urals was the Yuzhno-Uralsky Nickel Plant, which was shut down in 2012 due to unprofitable production.

Precious metals.

The Berezovsky gold deposit near Yekaterinburg is considered the oldest and most famous in Russia, once all Russian gold was mined there. Now, only about 1 percent of the country's total gold is mined at the Berezovsky mine. In the region of the rivers of the Middle and Northern Urals, platinum is mined, alluvial platinum does not require expensive processing, but the extraction of nuggets causes environmental problems.

The Yekaterinburg Non-Ferrous Metals Processing Plant is a full range of works for the processing of precious metals and the production of industrial products from gold, silver and platinum.

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