Understanding Common Terms

1. Raw Materials, Refined, Processed, Manufactured and Value-Added

Raw Materials

Raw materials are the basic materials from which a product is made. They are natural resources that come directly from the earth and have not been changed or altered yet.

Examples:

• Cotton picked from cotton plants (used to make cloth)
• Iron ore dug from mines (used to make steel)
• Crude oil pumped from underground (used to make petrol and plastic)
• Sugarcane harvested from fields (used to make sugar)
• Fish caught from the sea (used for food)

Raw materials are found in nature and need to be extracted or collected before they can be turned into useful products.

Refined

Refined means that impurities or unwanted elements have been removed by processing. When we refine something, we clean it and make it purer or better quality.

Examples:

• Crude oil is refined in an oil refinery to remove dirt and separate it into useful products like petrol, diesel, and kerosene
• Sugar is refined by removing molasses and impurities from raw sugarcane juice to produce white sugar crystals
• Metal ores are refined to remove rocks and dirt, leaving pure metal behind

Refining makes raw materials cleaner and ready to be used in making products.

Processed

Processed means to perform a series of mechanical or chemical operations on something in order to change or preserve it. Processing transforms raw materials into a different form that is more useful or easier to store and transport.

Examples:

• Wheat is processed into flour by grinding the grains
• Milk is processed by pasteurization (heating to kill bacteria) and homogenization (mixing to make it smooth)
• Cotton is processed by cleaning, spinning into yarn, and weaving into cloth
• Fish is processed by gutting, freezing, salting, or canning to preserve it

Processing changes the raw material so it becomes a new product or lasts longer.