Industry vocabulary

Secondary sector: economic sector that consists of construction and industry.

Raw material: resource that is transformed into finished or semi-finished products by means of an industrial process.

Energy source: natural resource that provides the necessary power to operate machines.

Human resources: workers, personnel.

Capital: money, buildings and machinery used in industrial production.

Finished product: industrial product that is ready for consumption.

Semi-finished product: industrial product used as raw material in other industries.

Hydrocarbon: chemical compound of hydrogen and carbon.

Refining process: process that extracts derivates like petrol and diesel from oil.

Developed country: rich industrialized country with high living standards.

Strike: period of time when workers agree to stop working to get better working conditions.

Developing country: (comparatively) poor country trying to develop industry and improve living standards.

Pyme: small or medium-sized company with a limited number of employees and limited profits.

Steel: metal alloy (mix) of iron and carbon that can be elastic, hard, or resistant, depending on the proportion of the mix.

High-tension power line: line used for the transmission of electricity.

Phosphate: substance used as fertilizer.

Caustic soda: substance used in many industries, such as soap making.

Concrete: very hard building material made by mixing small stones, sand, water and cement.

Dairy product: milk or milk product.

Spinning: process of transforming raw material like cotton or wool into thread.

Weaving: process of making cloth or textiles from threads.

Industrial park: industrial areas on the outskirts of a city with factories, industrial plants, warehouses, services, and transport links; mostly for light industry.

Technology park: industrial area dedicated to high technology, research, development, and innovation, with low environmental impact.

Intranet: internal computer network with Internet technology for use inside a company or organization.

RDI: research, development and innovation (I+D+i: investigación, desarrollo e innovación).

Biodegradable: applied to substances that are rapidly decomposed by the action of living organisms, usually microorganisms.

Scrap metal: old pieces of metal that have been thrown away but can be reprocessed.

European Union: association of democratic European countries with common policies to achieve the political and economic integration of Europe.

Newly Industrialized Countries: Asian countries (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand) whose economies have grown spectacularly in recent years because of the development of the industrial sector and have abundant human resources, state support, and competitive prices.

Ozone layer: layer of gases in the atmosphere that stops dangerous radiation from reaching the Earth.

Environmental impact study: study that evaluates the effects a new construction can have on the environment.