Geographical location of the Ural metallurgical base. Ural metallurgical base: characteristics

The Ural metallurgical base is the largest in the country. The majority of Russian steel and cast iron is produced by factories in this region. A lot of enterprises specializing in the production of nickel, zinc, copper, etc. have been built in this area. The geographical location of the Ural metallurgical base is considered quite convenient and economically advantageous. Mainly due to this factor, the products produced here are characterized by relatively low costs.

Metallurgy of Russia

Before we begin to consider the features of the development of this industry in the Urals, let’s find out what it represents on a national scale. Ferrous metallurgy enterprises in Russia can engage in:

• mining of ore raw materials (iron, manganese and chromium);
• extraction of related raw materials (coal, lime, clay);
• production of ferrous metals (cast iron, steel, rolled products);
• production of cast iron and steel pipes;
• release of coke and coke oven gas;
• recycling of secondary metals.

Non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises produce copper, nickel, zinc, etc. The importance of this sub-sector in the country's economy is quite large.

Metallurgical complex

y and enrichment of copper ores. Therefore, they use not only local, but also imported concentrates (from the Kola Peninsula, from Kazakhstan). Local copper-nickel and polymetallic ores can also serve as raw materials for the copper industry. In Eastern Siberia in the north of the Chita region near the station. Chara is developing the Udokan copper ore deposit, which is unique in terms of reserves (more than 1.2 billion tons of ore) and quality (up to 17% copper in the ore). The Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine, located in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, uses copper-nickel ores from local deposits (Norilsk, Talnakh and Oktyabrsky) and produces, along with copper smelting, nickel, cobalt, platinum and other metals.

In the Northern region on the Kola Peninsula, copper-nickel ores are mined and processed. Their metallurgical processing is completed by plants in Monchegorsk and Nikel (Murmansk region).

Outside the areas of blister copper production, focusing on the consumer, copper refining enterprises are located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kolchugino (Vladimir region) and other cities.

In addition to Russia, Kazakhstan (Balkhash, Dzhezkazgan and Irtysh copper smelters), Uzbekistan (Almalyk smelter), and Armenia (Alaverdi smelter) stand out in the CIS for copper production.

The nickel-cobalt industry, due to the low metal content in the ore (0.3% nickel and 0.2% cobalt), is also closely related to the areas where raw materials are mined. In addition to the above-mentioned mining sites and processing centers of copper-nickel raw materials in the Northern region and Eastern Siberia, nickel ores are mined and processed in the Urals (Verkhniy Ufaley, Orsk, Rezh).

The lead-zinc industry is also developed mainly near the places of occurrence and extraction of raw materials (polymetallic ores) - in Vladikavkaz (Sadon group of polymetallic ore deposits in North Ossetia in the North Caucasus), in Belovo (Salairskoye deposit in the Kemerovo region in Western Siberia), Nerchinsk ( Nerchinsky deposits in the Chita region in Eastern Siberia), Dalnegorsk (Dalnegorsk deposit in the Primorsky Territory in the Far East). In the Urals - in Chelyabinsk, zinc smelting is based on the use of not only local zinc concentrates (produced in Sredneuralsk, Sverdlovsk region as a result of complex processing of local copper ores), but also imported ones.

The aluminum industry in Russia is represented by all stages of production: extraction and enrichment of raw materials, production of alumina, smelting (from alumina) of metallic aluminum.

The raw material base of the industry is formed by bauxite and nepheline. Bauxite is mined in the North-Western (Boksitogorsk), Northern (North-Onega deposit in the Arkhangelsk region, Timan in the Komi Republic) and Ural (North-Ural deposit) regions; nephelines - in the Northern region on the Kola Peninsula (Khibiny deposit), in Western Siberia (Kiya - Shaltyrskoye deposit) and Eastern Siberia (Goryachegorsk).

Alumina production is located in the Urals (Krasnoturinsk and Kamensk - Uralsky), the North-West (Boksitogorsk, Volkhov and Pikalevo), in Eastern Siberia (Achinsk), in the Northern region (Plesetsk). Domestic production provides only about half of the existing needs for alumina; the rest of the alumina is exported from neighboring countries (Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan) and beyond (Yugoslavia, Hungary, Greece, Venezuela, etc.).

The production of aluminum metal is located near hydroelectric power stations (Volkhov, Volgograd, Bratsk, Shelekhov, Krasnoyarsk, Sayanogorsk), large thermal power plants (Novokuznetsk in Western Siberia), in places of extraction and processing of raw materials (Krasnoturinsk and Kamensk - Uralsky, Kandalaksha, Nadvoitsy).

Of the total volume of aluminum production in Russia (in 1997 it amounted to 3 million tons), almost 80% occurs in the East Siberian region alone. In the CIS countries, the production of aluminum metal is in Azerbaijan (Sumgait), Kazakhstan (Pavlodar), and Ukraine (Zaporozhye).

The production of titanium and magnesium is carried out at raw material sources in the Urals (Bereznikovsky and Solikamsky titanium-magnesium plants in the Perm region).

Tin industry. Tin mining and enrichment is carried out in Eastern Siberia (Sherlovaya Gora in the Chita region) and in the Far East (Deputatskoye, Odinokoye, etc. in Yakutia; Pravourminskoye, Sobolinoye, etc. in the Khabarovsk Territory, and other deposits).

Metallurgical processing, due to the high transportability of enriched ore (the concentrate contains up to 70% tin), is not associated with ore deposits, but is focused on areas of consumption (Podolsk, St. Petersburg) or is located along the route of concentrates (Novosibirsk).

The gold mining industry provides more than 100 tons of gold per year, which is 7-8% of world production. Only South Africa, the USA, Canada and Australia have larger production volumes. The vast majority (more than 85%) of Russian gold production occurs in the Far East (the Republic of Sakha and the Magadan region) and Eastern Siberia (Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk and Chita regions). A small amount of gold is produced by the Ural, West Siberian and Northern regions.

Diamond mining industry. Russia's share in the world production of jewelry diamonds is approximately 25%. Their production is almost entirely concentrated in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where in the river basin. Vilyuy has several large mines (“Yubileiny”, “Udachny”, etc.) - The Northern region (Europe’s largest diamond deposit named after Lomonosov in the Arkhangelsk region) and Eastern Siberia (Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk Region) are very promising.

2. Current situation of the metallurgical complex.

2.1. Problems and prospects for the development of the metalological complex.

With the collapse of the USSR, the unified system of interacting metallurgical bases ceased to exist. The severance of existing ties with respect to raw materials and metal assortments has led to the fact that in a number of regions of Russia, primarily in Siberia and the Far East, the metal shortage has increased significantly. The main problem of the domestic metallurgy today is technical re-equipment. Its solution requires replacing the old open-hearth method of steel production with a new one - oxygen-converter and electric melting. Based on their use, the quality of production metal will improve dramatically. The use of huge reserves of scrap metal requires the construction of new types of metallurgical enterprises. They serve small areas and use modern technology that allows them to produce high-quality metal with minimal negative impacts on the environment. According to statistics, every year the metallurgical complex emits up to 10 million tons of harmful substances into the atmosphere, including 80% of all emissions of lead. Blast furnace and open-hearth production, as well as coke chemistry, are considered especially harmful.

2.2. Russia's share in world metallurgy.

In modern conditions of the international division of labor, one of Russia’s specialization sectors is the national metallurgical industry. Products of Russian metallurgy make up a significant share of global production and trade of metals. In 2001, Russia produced 59 million tons of steel, or 7% of global output (4th place in the world). At the same time, 55% of the total production of rolled ferrous metals was exported, which is 26 million tons or about 10% of world trade (1st place in the world). Russia's share in global production of the six main types of non-ferrous metals (aluminum, nickel, copper, zinc, lead, tin) is about 8.5%. About 80% of the total production of basic non-ferrous metals and 70% of rare metals are exported. Thus, the domestic metallurgy operates in the general system of world economic relations, and its condition largely depends on the development trends of the world metallurgy. The main direction of development of international economic relations at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries was the globalization of the economy, which was fully manifested in the metallurgical industry. International economic relations have become a tool for redistributing resources and increasing production efficiency on a global scale. This led to the development of the following trends in global metallurgy:

strengthening the role of large integrated companies in world markets;

increased competition in the markets for products with high added value and the spread of the use of national protective measures in foreign trade, intensified work to reduce the costs of production of metal products, while the most expensive types of production are transferred to countries that have the cheapest natural and energy resources, labor force, providing minimum tax and transport costs.

Global trends determine the problems of domestic metallurgy in foreign markets. Russian enterprises are being squeezed out of the markets for metal products with high added value using various tariff and non-tariff restrictions. In the export of ferrous metallurgy, raw materials and semi-finished products (ore, scrap, coke, pig iron, ingots, billets, slabs) account for more than 60%. In the export of non-ferrous metallurgy, 80% falls on basic primary metals, and only 10% on products of higher processing stages (rolled products and other metal products). As a result of this factor, the level of capacity utilization for the production of final metal products (pipes, rolled products) is significantly lower compared to the level for metal products of lower stages (ore, cast iron, billets and primary metals). At the same time, in the markets for low-value metal products, Russian enterprises are experiencing increasing pressure from third countries (primarily China, India, Brazil, etc.). This is because, with low production costs and a high-quality ore base, these countries have been able to attract significant foreign investment to create a modern metallurgical industry. Thus, today the Russian metallurgical industry operates in conditions of global competition in the world market. Therefore, the most important direction of state industrial policy in relation to metallurgy at the present stage is the creation of such general conditions for the work of enterprises in the industry that would correspond to the conditions for the development of metallurgy in the countries that are the largest participants in the world metals market. In the context of this task, ensuring the competitiveness of the Russian metallurgical industry on the world market involves the implementation of a number of government measures in the field of tax, customs and tariff policies, as well as foreign trade. The second important direction of state industrial policy in relation to metallurgy is associated with the implementation of special measures aimed at stimulating progressive structural changes in the metallurgical industry. For these purposes, it is advisable to implement measures to expand domestic demand for metal products, to intensify innovation activities in metallurgy, to restructure enterprises and solve social problems.

2.3. Environmental problems of the metallurgical complex.

One of the most pressing problems at the present stage of development of the Russian metallurgical complex is the rational use of natural resources and environmental protection. In terms of the level of emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere and water bodies, and the formation of solid waste, metallurgy surpasses all raw materials industries, creating a high environmental hazard of its production and increased social tension in the areas where metallurgical enterprises operate. Environmental protection in the metallurgical complex requires enormous costs. Sometimes it is more expedient to use a technological process that is less polluting to the environment than to control (at huge costs) the level of pollution using traditional technologies. Currently, the reduction of social tension in the areas where metallurgical enterprises operate can be ensured, first of all, by reducing environmental hazards, introducing environmentally friendly technologies and creating waste-free industries. A waste-free technological system is a combination of organizational and technical measures, technological processes and methods of preparing raw materials and materials that ensure the integrated use of raw materials and energy. The transition to low-waste and waste-free technology, improvement of methods for recycling harmful substances, and integrated use of natural resources are the main directions for eliminating the harmful effects of metallurgical production on the environment. In the foreseeable future, significant changes should occur in the technical condition of the metallurgical complex and in environmental management processes, which will significantly solve many environmental problems. Only in non-ferrous metallurgy, for example, by 2002 the amount of harmful pollutant emissions is expected to decrease by 12-15% and the vast majority of enterprises will achieve maximum permissible emission standards. An increase in the use of mining systems with backfilling of mined-out space in raw material mining areas by 20%, provided for by the Metallurgy Development Program in Russia, will make it possible, along with improving technical indicators in ore mining, to ensure the safety of the earth's surface in the mining allotment, and to significantly reduce the consumption of materials for fastening, including very expensive precious metals. Huge reserves and opportunities for solving environmental problems lie in the complexity of processing raw materials, in the full use of useful components in its composition and deposits.

Conclusion.

The main bases of non-ferrous metallurgy are Central (around KMA), Ural and Siberian (in the south of Western Siberia).

Ores of heavy non-ferrous metals are characterized by a low metal content in the ore (to smelt 1 ton of copper, 100 tons of ore are needed, 1 ton of tin requires 300 tons), i.e., the main factor of placement is the raw material. Light non-ferrous metals are produced by electrolysis. Therefore, their production is very energy-intensive (to produce 1 ton of aluminum requires 17 thousand kWh of electricity, and 1 ton of titanium requires up to 60 thousand kWh).

Consequently, the main factor in the location of this production is energy. Therefore, the production of heavy non-ferrous metals is located in the areas where their ores are mined (Ural, Norilsk, Kola Peninsula), and the production of light metals is located at sources of cheap electricity - at large hydroelectric power stations in Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk.

The most important tasks that must be solved in the industry are the development of new rich copper deposits in Transbaikalia, a more complete extraction of all useful elements from ores, and the solution of environmental protection problems at industry enterprises.

In modern conditions, it is important to improve the quality of metal and increase the range of rolled products. The solution is to create mini-factories with modern technologies that use scrap metal and do not have a strong negative impact on nature.

Bibliography.

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General characteristics of metallurgical bases in Russia

Most of the plants in this industry are located in the Siberian, Central and Ural regions of the country. The location of ferrous metallurgy enterprises is mainly influenced by factors such as the availability of fuel and raw materials. Unfortunately, the geographical locations of coal and ore deposits rarely coincide. Therefore, plants are usually built near the raw material or fuel base, as well as between them.

The table below presents a brief comparative description of metallurgical bases in Russia.

These are the main indicators characterizing the metallurgical bases of Russia. The Ural metallurgical base is the largest of all. Siberian - is in the development stage.

Review of the largest metallurgical plants in Russia

Such a branch of economic activity as metallurgy includes two areas: ferrous metallurgy and non-ferrous metallurgy. Therefore, our review of the largest Russian metallurgical enterprises will be divided into two parts: Russian ferrous metallurgy enterprises and Russian non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises.

Russian ferrous metallurgy enterprises

Ferrous metallurgy includes the following sub-sectors:

1. Extraction of non-metallic raw materials (refractory clays, flux raw materials, etc.) for ferrous metallurgy. 2. Production of ferrous metals (ferrous metals include: steel, cast iron, rolled metal, metal powders of ferrous metals, blast furnace ferroalloys). 3. Pipe production (production of steel and cast iron pipes). 4.Coke and chemical production (production of coke, coke oven gas, etc.). 5.Secondary processing of ferrous metals (secondary processing includes cutting scrap and waste ferrous metals).

Products manufactured by Russian ferrous metallurgy enterprises are sold to engineering and construction organizations, and are also exported abroad.

There are several types of ferrous metallurgy enterprises:

1. Full-cycle metallurgical enterprises (engaged in the production of cast iron, steel and rolled products). 2. Pipe metallurgy enterprises (enterprises without iron smelting). 3. Small metallurgy enterprises (machine-building plants producing steel and rolled products).

The smallest metallurgical enterprises are factories; larger ones are factories. Both mills and factories can be united into holdings.

The location of Russian ferrous metallurgy enterprises depends, first of all, on proximity to deposits of iron ores and other minerals. So, for example, metallurgical plants producing iron and steel are located in areas where, firstly, iron ore deposits are nearby, and, secondly, there are a lot of forests (since charcoal is needed to reduce iron). When constructing metallurgical enterprises, the availability of electricity, natural gas and water is also taken into account.

Today there are 3 metallurgical bases in Russia:

1. Ural metallurgical base. 2. Central metallurgical base. 3. Siberian metallurgical base.

The Ural metallurgical base is engaged in production based on iron ore mined in the following deposits:

1. Kachkanar deposits (Russia). 2.Kursk magnetic anomaly (Russia). 3.Kustanay deposits (Kazakhstan).

The largest full-cycle metallurgical enterprises of the Ural metallurgical base are: Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (the largest Russian plant), Chelyabinsk Iron and Steel Works (part of Mechel OJSC), Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works, Metallurgical Works of Ural Steel OJSC (city of Novotroitsk), Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant plant (part of Mechel OJSC), Ashinsky Metallurgical Plant, Metallurgical Plant named after A.K. Serov (city of Serov; part of the UMMC holding), Chusovsky Metallurgical Plant (part of the United Metallurgical Company holding).

The largest processing metallurgy enterprises of the Ural metallurgical base are: Viz-Stal LLC (Ekaterinburg; what remains of the Verkh-Isetsky Metallurgical Plant (Izhevsk; part of Mechel OJSC), Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (part of the ChTPZ holding "), Chelyabinsk Ferroalloy Plant (the largest in Russia in the production of ferroalloys), Serov Ferroalloy Plant, Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (part of the ChTPZ holding), Ural Pipe Plant (city of Pervouralsk), Zlatoust Metallurgical Plant, Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant.

The Central Metallurgical Base is engaged in production based on iron ore mined in the following deposits:

1.Kursk magnetic anomaly (Russia). 2. Deposits of the Kola Peninsula (Russia).

The largest full-cycle metallurgical enterprises of the Central Metallurgical Base are: Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant (part of the group), Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant, Kosogorsk Metallurgical Plant (Tula), Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant (Stary Oskol).

The largest processing metallurgy enterprises of the Central Metallurgical Base are: Cherepovets Steel-Rolling Plant (part of the group), Oryol Steel-Rolling Plant, Metallurgical (Elektrostal), Metallurgical (Moscow), Izhora Pipe Plant (St. Petersburg; owned), Vyksa Metallurgical Plant ( Vyksa city, Nizhny Novgorod region).

The Siberian Metallurgical Base is engaged in production based on iron ore mined in the following deposits:

1.Gornaya Shoria deposits (Russia). 2.Abakan deposits (Russia). 3. Angaro-Ilim fields (Russia).

The largest full-cycle metallurgical enterprises of the Siberian metallurgical base are: Novokuznetsk Metallurgical Plant, West Siberian Metallurgical Plant (city of Novokuznetsk), Novokuznetsk Ferroalloy Plant.

The largest processing metallurgy enterprises of the Siberian metallurgical base are: Novosibirsk Metallurgical Plant named after Kuzmin, Metallurgical (Krasnoyarsk city), Guryevsky Metallurgical Plant (part of the ITF Group holding), Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky Metallurgical Plant.

Russian non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises

Non-ferrous metallurgy includes the following production processes:

1. Mining and beneficiation of non-ferrous metal ores. 2. Smelting of non-ferrous metals and their alloys (there are two types of non-ferrous metals: heavy (copper, zinc, lead, nickel, tin) and light (aluminum, magnesium, titanium)).

The location of non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises depends on factors such as the raw material factor (proximity to raw material sources; this is the most important factor), natural factor, fuel and energy factor and economic factor. Enterprises for the production of heavy non-ferrous metals are located in close proximity to areas where raw materials are extracted (since this production does not require a large amount of energy). Enterprises producing light non-ferrous metals require large amounts of electricity, so they are located near sources of cheap energy.

The following types of non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises are located in Russia:

1. Enterprises of the copper sub-industry. 2. Enterprises of the lead-zinc sub-industry. 3. Enterprises of the nickel-cobalt sub-industry. 4. Enterprises of the tin sub-industry. 5. Enterprises of the aluminum sub-industry. 6. Enterprises of the tungsten-molybdenum sub-industry. 7. Enterprises of the titanium-magnesium sub-industry. 8. Enterprises of the rare metal sub-industry.

The largest Russian enterprises in the copper sub-industry are: Buribaevsky GOK, Gaisky GOK (part of the UMMC holding), Karabashmed, Krasnouralsk copper smelting plant, Kirovgrad copper smelting plant, Mednogorsk copper-sulfur plant (part of the UMMC holding), Ormet (owned by RAO " Gazprom"), Polymetal Production (part of the UMMC holding), Safyanovskaya Copper (part of the UMMC holding), Svyatogor (part of the UMMC holding), Sredneuralsky Copper Smelter (part of the UMMC holding), Uralelectromed ( part of the UMMC holding).

The largest Russian enterprises in the lead-zinc sub-industry are: Bshkir copper-sulfur plant, Belovsky zinc plant, Gorevsky GOK, Dalpolimetal, Ryaztsvetmet, Sadonsky lead-zinc plant, Uchalinsky GOK, Chelyabinsk electrolyte-zinc plant, Electrozinc.

The largest Russian enterprises in the nickel-cobalt sub-industry are: MMC Norilsk Nickel (owned), PA Rezhnikel (owned by RAO Gazprom), Ufaleynickel, Yuzhuralnickel.

The largest Russian enterprises in the tin sub-industry are: Far Eastern Mining Company, Dalolovo (owned), Deputatskolovo, Novosibirsk Tin Plant, Khingan Tin (owned).

The largest Russian enterprises in the aluminum sub-industry are: Achinsk Alumina Refinery (part of the RusAL holding), Boguslav Aluminum Refinery (part of the SUAL holding), Belokalitvinsky Metallurgical Production Association (part of the RusAL holding), Boksitogorsk Alumina Refinery, Bratsk Aluminum Refinery (part of the RusAL holding), Volgograd aluminum smelter, Volkhov aluminum smelter, Irkutsk aluminum smelter (part of the SUAL holding), Kamensk-Ural metallurgical plant (part of the SUAL holding), Kandalaksha aluminum smelter (part of the holding "SUAL"), Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Smelter (part of the RusAL holding), Mikhalyum (part of the SUAL holding), Nadvoitsky Aluminum Smelter (part of the SUAL holding), Novokuznetsk Aluminum Smelter (part of the RusAL holding) , Samara Metallurgical Plant (part of the RusAL holding), Sayan Aluminum Plant (part of the RusAL holding), Stupino Metallurgical Company (owned by RAO Gazprom), Ural Aluminum Plant (part of the SUAL holding), Foil Rolling Plant .

The largest Russian enterprises in the tungsten-molybdenum sub-industry are: Hydrometallurg, Zhirekensky GOK, Kirovgrad Hard Alloy Plant, Lermontov Mining Company, Primorsky GOK, Sorsk GOK.

The largest Russian enterprises in the titanium-magnesium sub-industry are: AVISMA, VSMPO, Solikamsk Magnesium Plant.

The largest Russian enterprises in the rare metal sub-industry are: Zabaikalsky GOK, Orlovsky GOK, Sevredmet (owned by ZAO FTK).

Source: Industrial portal Metaprom.ru

The largest ferrous metallurgy enterprises in the Urals

Most of the factories in this region are full-cycle industries. The largest ones include Magnitogorsk, Novotroitsk, Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Tagil. These four enterprises produce 80% of all the region's pig iron and 70% of its steel. There are other plants in this region, not so large: in Serov, Chusovo, Beloretsk, Alapaevka, etc. The largest iron ore deposit in the Urals is Kachkanarskoye. The second most important is Orsko-Khalilovskoye. Almost all Russian chromites are mined here.

Structure and location of leading sectors of the economy

Industry is the main one in the structure of the economic complex of the Ural economic region.
In addition, industry plays a leading role here. The fuel and energy complex is responsible for ensuring the functioning of each sector of the economy. The most important is its formation in the Urals, where a large amount of heat production is concentrated. It should be noted that the Urals is an area where the supply of fuel and energy resources is rather low.

The traditional industry of the Urals is the coal industry. But, despite this, the coal deposits of the Urals are being depleted, resulting in the closure of quarries and mines.

This is due to the fact that own coal production is much more expensive than the use of imported coal.

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Note 1

Today, gas and oil production is of great importance. But still, this does not cover the needs of the Ural economic region.

The largest oil refining industry was created in the Urals. The main oil refining plants are those located in Ufa, Salovat, and Perm.

The United Ural Energy System is one of the largest in the country. Its basis is thermal power engineering, which is based on coal and natural and associated gas.

In addition, hydropower is also actively developed. The largest hydroelectric power stations were built on the Kama: Votkinskaya and Kama; they include several smaller hydroelectric power plants.

The ferrous metallurgy of the Ural economic region includes all stages of production, which begin from the extraction and enrichment of iron ore and end with the smelting of cast iron, steel and rolled products. This is one of the most important sectors of the region's market specialization.

Finished works on a similar topic

Coursework The Urals are the main metallurgical base of the country 490 ₽ Abstract The Urals are the main metallurgical base of the country 280 ₽ Test work The Urals are the main metallurgical base of the country 200 ₽

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Great importance is given to the intensification of geological exploration work that is taking place in the north of the Ural Mountains. Manganese ores are not currently being mined in the Urals, although their reserves are very significant, amounting to 41.3 million tons. An example is the North Ural manganese basin, located in the Sverdlovsk region.

In addition, in the Urals there are reserves of chromite ores, which are used for the production of refractories. For the smelting of ferrochrome, chromites brought from Kazakhstan are used.

Geographical location of the Ural metallurgical base: features

This region is located in close proximity to fuel-rich Siberia and Kazakhstan, as well as to the European part of Russia, which has serious scientific and technical potential. Of course, such proximity cannot but affect the cost of the final product.

There is another advantage in the territorial location of this base. The Ural Mountains are very old. They appeared millions of years ago and have now practically collapsed. Therefore, minerals lie here almost on the surface and in most cases can be mined by open-pit mining.

Unfavorable factors include the lack of coking coal reserves in the region. However, the geographical location of the Ural metallurgical base is such that it is quite easy to import it from neighboring regions. In most cases, coking coals are purchased in Kazakhstan. Iron ore is partially imported from the areas of the Kursk magnetic anomaly.

Economic and geographical characteristics of the Ural metallurgical base

Now the Ural metallurgical base uses coking coal 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. Strengthening our own raw material base is associated with the development of the Kachkanar and Bakal fields. Titanomagnetites (Kachkanarskoye deposit) and siderites (Bakalskoye deposit), which account for 3/4 of the iron ore reserves, are being developed here. Titanomagnetites are already involved in development (Kachkanarsky GOK).

Many iron ores of the Urals are complex and contain valuable alloying components. There are reserves of manganese ores - the Polunochnoe deposit. Over 15 million tons of iron ore are imported annually. With the significant development of pigment metallurgy, which causes a noticeable (1.5 times) excess of steel production over pig iron production, the main role is played by enterprises with a full cycle. They are located mainly along the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains. On the western slopes, pigment metallurgy is more represented. The main giant enterprises: Magnitogorsk plant - the largest enterprise in the country, one of the largest in the world; Chelyabinsk - built during the Great Patriotic War, completed after the war, equipment received as reparations from Japan. There is also a large ferroalloy plant in Chelyabinsk. The Nizhny Tagil plant has its own high-quality natural alloy ore. Large plant - Orsko-Khalilovsky (Novotroitsk). At the same time, many small factories have survived in the Urals. Many of them produce high-quality metal, often using expensive but low-sulfur wood coke. The most significant of them are the Serovsky, Chusovsky, Izhevsky and Zlatoust plants. It should be noted the plant in Kasli on the border of the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions, which specializes in artistic cast iron crafts (cast iron gratings, fences, gates, sculptural groups).

The quality profile of Ural metallurgy is very high, which largely depends on the specifics of raw materials. A prominent place is occupied by the production of ferroalloys and pipe rolling. In addition, the Urals are the only region in the country where natural alloy metals are smelted (Novotroitsk).

Currently, the construction of a broadband mill-5000 is underway at Magnitka. A large-scale production of transport metal (rails, wheels, profiles for car building) has been created at the Nizhny Tagil plant. Here in 1974 The most powerful Blooming-1500 was put into operation. This is the only enterprise in the country for the production of broadband beams. In the Urals, the production of pipes for the oil and gas industry has recently increased significantly (Pervouralsk, Chelyabinsk).

The Urals are better provided with technological fuel than other regions due to the coking coals of Kuzbass, and in the future also Pechora, and natural gas of Western Siberia.

Important advantages of the Ural ferrous metallurgy base include:

• high territorial concentration of fixed production assets;
• the presence of the largest contingent of highly qualified metallurgists in the country;
• a wide network of secondary and higher educational institutions that train qualified personnel for the industry;
• a large number of metallurgical research and design organizations;
• the presence of a large local consumer of ferrous metals in the form of a highly developed, predominantly metal-intensive mechanical engineering industry, which simultaneously supplies the industry with the necessary equipment;
• the abundance of scrap metal in the area, which is a serious help in replenishing the raw material base of ferrous metallurgy.

The main disadvantages hindering the further development of the Ural ferrous metallurgy base include:

• the narrowness of the local fuel and energy base and, first of all, the lack of our own coking coal;
• discrepancy between the share of the Urals in all-Russian reserves and production of iron ore and its share in the domestic production of ferrous metals;
• tense water balance;
• outdated production equipment of the industry.

In the future, it is planned to improve the technology of steel production by replacing open-hearth furnaces with oxygen converters and electric furnaces, and removing obsolete blast furnaces from the process. Along with the technical re-equipment of plants (Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, etc.), they plan to reconstruct old Ural factories, creating on their basis modern enterprises for the production of progressive types of products. For example, they consider it expedient to specialize the Alapaevsky plant in the production of structural rolled products, the Staroutkinsky plant in alloyed iron powders, the Lysvensky plant in cold rolled products, the Saldinsky plant in rail fastenings, the Chusovskaya plant in vanadium-containing products, the Satkinsky plant in tubes for the metro, the Serovsky plant in electric steel, etc.

Based on the use of metallurgical slag, related production of cement and mineral wool arose, and using coke oven gas - nitrogen fertilizers (Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil) and plastics (Ekaterinburg, Nizhny Tagil). The production of refractory products is associated with the metallurgical complex (Serov, Nizhny Tagil, Sukhoi Log, Bogdanovich, Satka, Chelyabinsk, Magnitogorsk, Pervouralsk, Novotroitsk).

Over 300 years of exploitation, the traditional resource base of minerals in the Middle and Southern Urals has been largely depleted. The consequence is a low supply of metallurgy enterprises with local raw materials: only 20% - copper, 28% - chromium, 35% - iron ore. 100% manganese ore is imported. The average delivery distance is 2.5 thousand kilometers. Raw materials are sold to Ural enterprises exclusively at world prices. All costs are inevitably included in the cost of production of the Ural industry.

The problem of ore poverty arises (for example, the ore mined by the Kachkanarsky Mining and Processing Plant contains about 16% iron). According to one of the top managers of KGOK, out of one and a half billion tons of ore mined by the plant during its operation, only 300 million tons of iron ore concentrate were produced. The rest is in dumps. And if environmental payments for accumulated dumps increase (according to the plant, by 30 times), this will negate the success of the enterprise.

By the end of 2008, the plant intends to increase the volume of ore production to 50 million tons: this will exceed the 2004 figure by 6%. The increase in KGOK production volumes should help the Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works to refuse raw materials from companies that are not part of EvrazGroup. Previously, the iron and steel plant purchased products from the Mikhailovsky GOK, but since November 2006 it decided to abandon it. From now on, NTMK's charge will be formed from concentrate from KGOK and products from the second mining and processing plant of EvrazGroup in the Urals, Vysokogorsky (VGOK). It is still difficult to say how realistic these plans are: according to VGOK chief engineer Sergei Napolskikh, the iron content in the ore mined here has fallen sharply - from 30% in 2000 to 7.9% in 2006: “This is due to the depth of mining reserves, naturally there is a decrease in the iron content in the ore.” The plant is trying to compensate for the decrease in iron concentration in the ore by expanding production. In 2009, it is planned to increase ore production at the Yuzhnaya mine to the level of 2 million tons per year, as well as to develop new horizons at the Magnetitovaya and Evstyuninskaya mines.

Another leader of the Russian metallurgical market, OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, is focused, unlike Evrazholding, on purchased raw materials. Of course, Magnitka has no other choice: there are no free raw material assets left on Russian territory, the purchase of which could solve the problem. Over decades of intensive work, the Magnitnaya Combine has practically exhausted its own base in the form of Mount Magnitnaya. It is planned to begin development of another Chelyabinsk field - Techenskoye. Its reserves are estimated at 50 million tons of ore. Since 2008, MMK plans to mine up to 2 million tons of ore annually. In the meantime, he is reconstructing the mining and processing plant. In 2005, sintering machines were replaced at sintering plant No. 2, which increased production volume from 10.3 to 11.2 thousand tons. It is planned to reconstruct sinter plant No. 4.

MMK’s 60-year relationship with the Kazakh Sokolovsko-Sarbaisky GPO, located 300 km from the plant, plays a role in MMK’s raw material “ties”. Sokolovka traditionally covered about 70% of Magnitka's ore needs. Such a chain was built back in Soviet times. And again in March 2006. long-time partners entered into a ten-year contract for the supply of iron ore raw materials.

A guaranteed supplier allows MMK not to be afraid of a shortage of raw materials, but whether Magnitogorsk will put up with the loss of a significant part of the added value due to rising prices for raw materials is an open question.

At the same time, the territory of the Polar and Subpolar Urals has a significant untapped reserve of solid minerals. According to many researchers, the potential of this territory significantly exceeds the indicators registered by the Ministry of Natural Resources (see Table 4). At the same time, geological knowledge of the territory remains weak - about 12%. However, experts already believe that the development of mineral resources in the Polar and Subpolar Urals will provide 100% of the Russian industry with chromium, and to a large extent with manganese, iron, and phosphorites. The predicted reserves will be enough to supply the domestic metallurgy with raw materials for 300 years. The total value of reserves and predicted resources of the main types of solid minerals of the Polar and Subpolar Urals is estimated at more than 40 trillion. rubles

The development of the new resource base will be as efficient as possible, since all minerals are available for open-pit mining. Combined with the proximity of consumer enterprises, this will make it possible to obtain raw materials at lower prices compared to existing ones: for example, the cost of iron ore concentrate is estimated to be four times lower than the world price.

Thus, the direct economic effect of lowering prices for raw materials for metallurgists and reducing transportation distances for the main types of solid minerals can amount to tens of billions of rubles per year. This is about 10 trillion. rubles for the entire period of operation of the fields. And the indirect effect, due to the fact that the railway planned along the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains will give impetus to the development of various sectors of the economy and social infrastructure of the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrugs, the north of the Sverdlovsk Region, may be several times greater than the direct one. Investments in the construction of the railway are estimated at 60 - 90 billion rubles, and overall capital investments in the Ural Industrial - Ural Polar project are 357 billion rubles.

Table 4

Resource potential of the subsoil of the Polar and Subpolar Urals

Large businesses have already expressed interest in the project. These are metallurgical enterprises: Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Chelyabinsk Electrometallurgical Plant, Mechel, Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company.

The key problem of Russian ferroalloy producers is the lack of their own raw material base. Domestic demand for chrome ores is satisfied by only 40% of Russian raw materials, the rest is imported mainly from Kazakhstan and Turkey. To strengthen their competitive advantages, Russian ferroalloy producers acquire ownership of raw materials assets and form vertically integrated holdings. They place great hopes on the development of reserves in the Subpolar Urals: the market leader, the Chelyabinsk Electrometallurgical Plant, has already begun developing northern deposits. But the problem is still far from being completely resolved.

The ambitious project “Ural Industrial - Ural Polar” promises good raw material prospects. According to General Director of Zheldormet Mikhail Gusarov

More than 30 deposits of chromium, manganese, zinc, bauxite, titanium, niobium, iron, copper, molybdenum and other minerals have already been explored on the territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and the north of the Sverdlovsk region. In particular, the reserves of chrome ores in the Central and Western deposits of the Rai-Iz massif in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug were examined by the State Reserves Committee and are estimated at 7.5 million tons. The Laptapai chrome site approximately contains more than 50 million tons of ore. “Having developed these deposits, Russia will be able to stop importing chrome ore. Work is underway to identify industrial deposits of two types of manganese, including ferromanganese ores with a 25 percent manganese content,” noted Mikhail Gusarov. However, in the absence of transport infrastructure, the development of most fields is not yet possible.

Magnitogorsk plant

The Ural metallurgical base is represented by a fairly large number of enterprises. The Magnitogorsk plant is not only the largest in Russia, but also in Europe. It was built in the 30s of the last century. The production premises of the Magnitogorsk plant occupy a total of about 7,000 hectares. This enterprise produces 20% of all products sold on the Russian market and has a full operating cycle. The first stage of production at the plant is the extraction of ores, and the last is the deep processing of ferrous metal. About 40% of all products produced by this enterprise are exported.

Metallurgical complex of the Urals using the example of ferrous metallurgy

The center's interest in the industry as a whole and its local enterprises has increased. It generates very large profits from exports. Undoubtedly, a new stage is approaching in the management of the interests of the center and regions, federal and local interests, and various forms of ownership.

The main thing is that the industry will no longer exist on its own, but will organically integrate into the industrial structure of the country and region.

1. The general base of the ferrous metallurgy of the Urals, its resources, potential

The leading branch of industrial specialization in the Urals is ferrous metallurgy; it is represented by all stages of production, from the extraction and enrichment of iron ore to the smelting of cast iron, steel and rolled products. This is one of the most important sectors of market specialization in the Ural region. In the structure of fixed assets of the Urals, the share of ferrous metallurgy accounts for approximately 1/3.

Ferrous metallurgy is one of the most important basic branches of heavy industry. Its products serve as the basis for the development of mechanical engineering and metalworking, construction, and are also widely used in many other sectors of the national economy. The ferrous metals production system covers the entire process from the extraction and preparation of raw materials, fuel, and auxiliary materials to the production of rolled products with further processed products. It includes: mining, enrichment and agglomeration of iron, manganese and chromite ores; production of cast iron, blast furnace ferroalloys, steel and rolled products; production of electroferroalloys; secondary processing of ferrous metals; coal coking; production of refractories; extraction of auxiliary materials (fluxing limestone, magnesite, etc.); production of metallurgical products for industrial purposes. Thus, the metallurgical cycle itself (cast iron - steel - rolled products) is provided by a number of related and auxiliary industries necessary for the normal functioning of the entire process of obtaining ferrous metals.

The foundations of the metallurgical industry were laid under Peter I. The construction of iron and iron smelting plants began in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. At the end of the 18th century. The Urals supplied iron not only to Russia, but also to Western Europe. Gradually, the Ural industry fell into decay. This was due to the remnants of serfdom, the enslaving position 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.

The Ural metallurgical base is the largest in Russia and is second in terms of ferrous metal production volumes only to the Southern metallurgical base of Ukraine within the CIS.

The share of Ural metallurgy accounts for 52% of cast iron, 56% of steel and more than 52% of rolled ferrous metals of the volumes produced on the scale of the former USSR. The Urals use imported Kuznetsk coal.

The natural resources of the Urals are very diverse and have a huge impact on its level of development. The Ural region has mineral resources, fuel, and non-metallic minerals. In terms of reserves of some types of mineral resources, the Urals ranks first in the world (copper ores, asbestos, potassium salts).

Deposits of iron ores and non-ferrous metal ores are concentrated mainly within the Ural Mountains. More than 2 thousand deposits and ore occurrences of iron ore are known in the Urals.

The ores lie at a depth of 50 to 700 m and have an ore body thickness of 70 to 350 m. Costs per 1 ton of iron in commercial ore are almost half lower than in Krivoy Rog ore, and lower than in Karelian and Kazakh ores. KMA is the largest area for open-pit iron ore mining. In general, crude ore production is about 80 million tons, i.e. about 39% of Russian production.

To date, the ferrous metallurgy of the Urals does not cover its needs for iron ore with its own production; ores are additionally imported from the Kursk magnetic anomaly, from the Kola Peninsula (at a distance of 3000-3500 km), as well as from Kazakhstan (Sokolovsko-Sarbaiskie), which is much closer. However, the problem of supplying the metallurgy of the Urals with iron ore raw materials is complicated by the transition of the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant (Kazakhstan) to supply from the Sokolovsko-Sarbaisky Mining and Processing Plant. Therefore, the task is to more fully develop our own iron ore resources. On the basis of the Kachkanar group of deposits, one Kachkanar mining and processing plant operates, and a second one is being built. The production of the Bakal and Orsko-Khalilovsky ores is increasing, and in the future the mining of ores located at significant depths (Serovskoye, Glubocheskoye and other deposits) will be carried out. Great importance is also attached to the intensification of geological prospecting work in the north of the Ural Mountains.

Manganese ores have not yet been mined in the Urals, although their reserves are quite significant - 41.3 million tons (North Ural manganese basin in the Sverdlovsk region). Until recently, ferromanganese and silicomanganese were supplied from Ukraine, and commercial ore from Kazakhstan.

The Urals also have reserves of chromite ores (Saranovsk group of deposits), but they are used for the production of refractories due to the low content of chromium oxide and high silicon content. Chromites from Kazakhstan are used to smelt ferrochrome.

There are no coking coals in the region, so the technological fuel is imported and comes from the Kuznetsk coal basin. In order to reduce the needs of the Urals for coking coal, it is planned to use new technologies more widely: use natural and associated gas, non-coking coal, etc.

1. Ferrous metallurgy of the Urals: resource assessment, centers, types of enterprises, prospects

The Urals are distinguished by a high level of concentration and combination of ferrous metal production. The main type of enterprises is full cycle, producing cast iron, steel and rolled products. The largest of them - Magnitogorsk, Nizhny Tagil, Orsko-Khalilovsky (Novotroitsk) plants and the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant - produce almost 80% of the pig iron and 70% of the steel smelted in the region. Other full-cycle enterprises are located in Chusovoy, Serov, Alapaevsk, Beloretsk and other centers.

Pipe metallurgy is also significantly developed in the Urals, mainly at old factories, which dominate in number in the region. Ferroalloys are also produced, both blast furnace (Chusovoy) and electrothermal smelted (Chelyabinsk); pipe rolling (Pervouralsk, Chelyabinsk). Only in the Urals there is smelting of naturally alloyed metals (Novotroitsk). The metal produced by Ural enterprises is of high quality and relatively low cost.

Currently, the most significant of the old factories being reconstructed are Zlatoust, Verkh-Isetsky, Lysvensky, and Chusovsky. In general, the Urals ranks first in the Russian Federation in the production of cast iron, steel and rolled products. The geography of metallurgy in the Urals has also changed. In the past, given the presence of 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 coals coming here from Kuzbass and Karaganda, bringing them closer to the largest iron ore bases became decisive in the location of metallurgical plants. Thus, the Magnitogorsk plant was built in the area of ​​Magnitnaya Mountain. Near the mountains Vysoka, Blagodat, Lebyazhya - Nizhny Tagil. The Chelyabinsk plant uses Bakal ores, the Orsko-Khalilovsky plant is located near the complex Khalilovsky ores. Thus, the main metallurgical centers moved from the north and center to the south of the Urals.

From 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, Izhevsky, which produce tool steel, etc. Ferroalloy and pipe factories have been built.

A wide reconstruction of metallurgical production is being carried out in the Urals. In order to increase the technical level and profitability, old metallurgical plants are being converted into conversion plants, specializing in the production of high-quality types of rolled products; obsolete blast furnaces and open-hearth furnaces, blooming and slabs cease to be used. They will be replaced by oxygen converter shops, intensive oxygen blasting, argon blowing, metal cleaning in a vacuum, and continuous steel casting plants. The percentage of recycled metal in the charge is increasing, which will reduce the production of liquid iron.

There are serious problems in the industry. The structure of rolled products produced in the region needs to be improved. The mechanical engineering industry of the Urals is a large consumer of rolled products, but over 1/3 of rolled products have to be imported from other regions. There is a shortage of rolled sheets, alloyed rolled products, etc.

The technical, technological and infrastructural equipment of this Ural complex requires radical modernization.

Thus, the average wear and tear of the active part (machines) and fixed production assets in ferrous metallurgy has reached 50 percent. The insufficiently high technological level of a number of industries causes a significant lag in basic technical and economic indicators from the metallurgy of developed countries (USA, European Union countries and Japan):

— the average energy intensity of steel smelting in the ferrous metallurgy of the Ural District is 20–30 percent higher;

— the amount of waste during the production of rolled products is 2 times higher;

- average labor productivity - 2.5 - 3 times lower;

— the total specific negative impact on the environment is 2 times higher.

Technological renewal occurs to a large extent on the basis of borrowing foreign technologies, primarily in the form of imports of technological equipment. The share of imports in purchases of new metallurgical equipment exceeds 50 percent.

The high concentration of metallurgical production has, in addition to positive aspects (reducing production costs, etc.), also extremely negative consequences: a sharp deterioration of the environmental situation, problems of water supply, population settlement, transport, etc. Therefore, further increasing the capacity of metallurgical enterprises is inappropriate, especially in the Southern Urals, where Currently, the main production is concentrated and there is a lack of water resources.

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

It is expected that in the future the production volumes of cast iron, steel and rolled products in the Ural region will decline. This is explained by the all-Russian trend of improving the use of ferrous metals in mechanical engineering and construction, and a sharp reduction in defense products.

The import of iron ore raw materials from other regions of the Russian Federation with a constant increase in railway tariffs leads to the fact that metal production in the Urals becomes uncompetitive in comparison even with the domestic plants Severstal and Novolipetsk. These circumstances could lead to a decrease in metal production in the Urals and even the closure of a number of enterprises.

A significant factor in the development of the metallurgical industry from the standpoint of its resource supply is the expansion of the use of secondary raw materials - scrap and ferrous metal waste. The use of scrap in the production of metals leads to savings in energy resources, raw materials, materials, increases the efficiency of use of technological units, and reduces the harmful impact on the environment. When smelting 1 ton of steel using scrap metal, 180 kW/h of electricity, 0.8 tons of coal, 175 cubic meters are saved. m of natural gas.

The most important problem in the development of ferrous metallurgy in the Urals is the problem of processing man-made formations. The enterprises of this complex account for up to 44 percent of industrial emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, 32 percent of the discharge of contaminated wastewater, and about 72 percent of toxic waste. The problems associated with recycling waste from metallurgical production are not only environmental in nature. With an integrated approach to solving them, it is possible to achieve positive results also in the economic, technical and social fields. Iron-containing waste from ferrous metallurgy, when processed appropriately, is an additional local source of raw materials, the use of which will reduce the severity of the problem of iron ore raw material shortage.

The problem of using secondary energy resources is also relevant, both actual fuel - converter gas and gas from electric steel-smelting and ferroalloy furnaces, and thermal - heat from waste gases, heat from cooling water, heat from liquid slag.

During the forecast period it is necessary to implement:

— a widespread increase in the depth of processing and expansion of the range of products,

— replacement of open-hearth production with electric furnace steelmaking,

— transition to production of products from continuously cast billets of oxygen-converter steel,

Novotroitsk "Ural Steel"

This plant is part of the Metalloinvest holding and is one of the country's largest producers of pipe blanks, strips and bridge steel. It is located in the Orenburg region and is the city-forming enterprise of the city of Novotroitsk. Its old name is the Orsko-Khalilovsky Metallurgical Plant. It was built not so long ago - in the middle of the last century.

The peculiarities of the economic and geographical position of the Ural metallurgical base are such that it is profitable to purchase part of the fuel in Kazakhstan. In particular, this applies to Ural Steel. The Novotroitsk plant is located right on the border with this state. During the collapse of the USSR, when economic ties with the former republics were interrupted, the enterprise experienced significant difficulties. Now the situation at the plant has improved somewhat.

Among other things, this company produces:

• foundry and pig iron;
• sheet and long products;
• stamped products;
• coke;
• cinder blocks;
• ammonium sulfate.

Some of the products are exported.

Nizhny Tagil plant

This is one of the oldest metallurgical enterprises in the country. Its construction began in 1720. The Ural metallurgical base, the geographical location of which in those days was not as advantageous as it is now, was just beginning to emerge.

The first smelting at the Nizhny Tagil plant took place in 1725. The main types of products it produces today include:

• train wheels;
• rails;
• channels, angles, I-beams, etc.

Non-ferrous metallurgy

Enterprises included in this group also have a significant impact on the economy of the region and the country as a whole. The Ural metallurgical base is the largest supplier of non-ferrous metals. In this region there are factories producing zinc, copper, aluminum, and nickel.

The largest enterprises are:

• OK "Rusal";
• UMMC;
• Verkhne-Salda Association;
• OJSC "Ufaleynickel";
• Kamensk-Uralsky plant;
• Revdinsky OCM plant, etc.

Problems and development prospects

The geographical position of the Ural metallurgical base is quite favorable. But, unfortunately, even despite a number of recent reforms, the Urals remains a region that exports mainly only unprocessed products. Analysts see the most promising direction in the development of industry in the region as further cooperation between the metallurgical complex of the Urals and the fuel and energy base of Siberia. Particularly effective could be cooperation between factories in this region and enterprises of the Komi Republic.

The main direction of development of the plants themselves should be the intensification of production. The Ural economic-geographical territory has one peculiarity - almost all enterprises of the metallurgical industry here are giants and are very difficult to re-equip and modernize. Another problem with large plants in this region is that they are slow to respond to market changes.

In the near future, the Ural metallurgical base, the geographical location of which remains quite favorable in terms of territorial structure, will remain the same. However, today the state considers the main goal to be the modernization of production in this territory.