Constant Capital, a component of capital existing in the form of the means of production (buildings, structures, equipment, fuel, raw and other materials), which does not change its value in the process of production. The division of capital into constant and variable capital, first established by Marx, was an important condition for a scientific analysis of the essence of capitalist exploitation. It made it possible to establish that only that part of capital which is spent to purchase labour power, i. e., variable capital, is the source of surplus value and of augmenting capital. The value of constant capital remains unchanged in the process of production, and is transferred to the newly created commodity through the worker’s labour. Constant capital is not the source of surplus value, but a condition of its production and appropriation by the capitalist. Different components of constant capital transfer their value to the newly created commodities in different ways. Buildings, equipment and machines participate in production during many production cycles over several years and transfer their value to the commodities bit by bit. By the nature of their turnover, they form fixed capital. Another component of constant capital— raw and other materials and fuel—is completely consumed in the process of production of a commodity during one period of production, and transfers its entire value to the newly created product, forming, along with variable capital, current capital.