raw materials

Definition:
The term 'raw materials' is often used to describe the physical goods used in manufacturing, without distinguishing between natural raw materials and semi-manufactured or fabricated materials. For example, the raw materials used in the packaging industry - paper, plastics, fibreboard etc. - are the finished goods of other manufacturers in the chemical industry. Natural raw materials include both those such as coal, iron ore and oil which occur in a natural state and are non-renewable, as well as those which occur in a natural state but have been 'adopted' and cultivated by man, which are renewable and whose supply can be increased or decreased through man's efforts - wheat, rubber, wool etc.

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