The main industries of the Belgorod Oblast are mining, machine building, metal processing (steam boilers, equipment for the food industry, equipment for chemical agents, formwork frames, power equipment, etc.), metal smelting, chemical industry (production of vitamins, detergents), processing of building materials and food processing (processing of sugar, meat, dairy products).
Important industrial cities are Belgorod, Old Oskol, Gubkin, Shebeykino, Alekseevka, and Valuiki.
Large-scale enterprises include the Oskol Power and Metallurgical Complex - Russia's only and one of the world's largest joint factories of its kind, which produces 1.8 million tons of steel and 1.5 million tons of rolled steel annually, with the potential to increase the scale of steel and rolled steel production. In addition, there is the largest iron ore processing company "Lebedinsky JSC".
As of June 2007, there were 64 food-processing enterprises in the Belgorod Oblast, specializing in the processing of cream cheese, canned fruits and vegetables, and fats and oils. There are 12 sugar factories, 6 canned goods processing complexes, 10 meat plants, 22 dairy plants, and 15 food processing plants in the oblast. In deep processing of agricultural products, especially sugar processing and meat and milk processing industries, raw materials are in short supply.
There are two main directions of development of the machinery manufacturing industry in the oblast, one of which is the manufacture of mining machinery and the repair of mining equipment, and the other is the manufacture of chemical machinery, boiler manufacturing and other metal metallurgy. The production of civilian goods is developing more slowly (e.g. household appliances, sewing equipment and light industrial products). The main trade and economic partners of the Belgorod Oblast are European countries. The Oblast has a number of large joint ventures, including JSC "Ruslan" (a joint venture with Spain for the production of white ash), JSC "Oken" (a joint venture with Germany for the production of foodstuffs), JSC "Belgorod Fish Feed and Experimental Processing Plant", and JSC "Belgrade Fish Feed and Experimental Processing Plant". JSC "Belgorod Fish Feed Processing Plant" (joint venture with Great Britain), JSC "Domat" (joint venture with Bulgaria for the production of foodstuffs), JSC "Belgorod Dairy Processing Combine" (joint venture with Italy) and others.
The Government of the Belgorod Oblast is pursuing a strategy of expanding the scope of regional and foreign cooperation, including cooperation with China. The Oblast has no official contacts with the Chinese provinces. The most attractive projects for Chinese investors include the expansion of the Gubkin Central Thermal Power Plant ($360 million), a series of thermal power plant construction projects in the oblast, the reconstruction of several sugar mills, the development of poultry meat processing, and the development of pork processing.
As of June 2007, the Belgorod Oblast's trading partners were mainly Western European countries. In the structure of the Belgorod Oblast's trade, the export of metal raw materials and rolled steel accounted for 96% of the total, and the export of machinery, equipment, and means of transportation accounted for 3% of the total. In the structure of imported goods, vehicles and equipment account for 35%, non-staple foodstuffs and agricultural raw materials for 29%, chemical products and medical equipment for 18%. More than 20 enterprises and organizations have foreign economic relations with foreign countries. The export products of the Oskol Power Metallurgical Plant, the Lebedin Plant and the Stolinsky Plant account for 70 percent of foreign trade exports.
In the Belgorod region, 443 enterprises are registered with foreign investment, 44 of them in distant countries, and 399 in neighboring countries. In 18 of these companies, the main countries of investment are the United States, Bulgaria, Turkey, Great Britain and China.