Downstream industries: Playing the value-addition game

Major extractive industries such as copper and coal, to name just a few, not only have a vital role to play in a country's economic growth but also in creating an ecosystem that helps in the development of various downstream and ancillary industries. The success of India's petrochemical sector is a great example of what downstream industries can achieve provided they have enough feedstock from upstream companies, which are used as raw materials or inputs for the final products. It is only when the raw materials undergo a complex, multi-stage processing transformation in the upstream industries do they become intermediaries or inputs for downstream companies. Hence, downstream players are highly dependent on extractive industries such as mining, mineral and energy companies for their existence, expansion, and robust future.