Soviet Union Table of Contents
Some branches of the chemical industry have been located close to their raw materials. The chemical fertilizer industry has major plants using apatite in the Kola Peninsula, phosphates in the southern Kazakhstan Economic Region, and potassium salts in the Ural, Ukraine, and Belorussia economic regions.
Synthetic rubber production increased rapidly in the 1980s, providing tires for heavy industrial vehicles and for the increasing number of passenger vehicles. Soviet mineral fertilizer production led the world in the 1970s; because of agricultural failures, the chemical industry has been under great pressure to produce more pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and feed additives. Plans called for a 70 percent increase in mineral fertilizers from 1980 to 1990. In addition, chemical fibers were a growing part of the textile industry, which was vital to expanding consumer production.
Data as of May 1989