In the 19 century manufacturing industry located near the source of a material eg iron ore or near a coalfield. Today most secondary industry is located near ports for example petrol chemical plant in Rotterdam Export Processing near port Qasim Karachi BECUASE raw material are often imported. There are relatively few new industrial plants which are tied to raw material location.
However, industrial location is strongly influenced by inertia a traditional locations may be occupied long after the original reason for choosing it has gone especially where raw materials played a major role in the choice of original location.
Energy or power: Early industrial location were inseparable from source of energy BECUASE power was the least transportable resources. Industry had to be located near fast flowing rivers or coal reserve. As technology developed, industrial location changed to suit new supplies of energy available. The metallurgy industries such as iron and steel are good example of this. At first a location within a forest was essential for charcoal supplies to smelt the iron. Later when steam technology developed the steel industries had to move to coalfield. Once supplies of electricity were distributed through national grids across the countries industry was no longer tied to sources of energy. Modern steel industries have relocated to coastal sites because the choice of locations is now mainly influenced by distance from raw material and market. As electricity can be transported long distance cheaply there has been an increase in the proportion of industries which have a free choice of location.
Transport:
Water transport has traditionally been the cheapest way to transport good in bulk. Canal river port or coastal location were therefore strongly favoured as location for early secondary industries. With the gradual development of railway road and air transport network the influence of transport on industrial location within a region has become a very complex one. Companies strive to keep their transport cost as low as possible whether transporting raw material product personnel or information. Minimizing transport cost might mean selecting central rather than a peripheral location within a country region or urban area so that the factory is near the market since costs increase may be bulkier or heavier than the finished products eg iron ore processed into steel wire and sugarcane into sugar so it may be cheaper to locate near the raw material source!!!
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