Literature review for my dissertation which is in ( analysis and

Literature review for my which is in ( analysis and valuation of three companies in petrochemical industry) - Dissertation Example The hazardous materials transportation act and the pollution prevention act are significant among these. According to the first act, the Department of Transportation gets the authority to control the transportation of such materials including the petrochemicals. Furthermore, the USA government has become increasingly active and concerned about the safety and environmental areas for this petrochemical transportation. Adding to it, the state governments are also taking interests in the issues affecting the petrochemical industry such as the specific charges and taxes, reduction of toxic use and hazardous waste as well as state right-to-know statutes (U.S Department of Commerce, 1994, p.11-5). Economic Factors The recent recession has emerged as devastating for the leading economies across the globe including USA. The rise in the oil has also contributed to the rise of the Petrochemical product prices. As a consequence, the petrochemical organisations have been experiencing low producti on and profitability margins (Ismaiyatim, 2010). Furthermore, with the rise in the price of the petrochemical products, the demand for the same has experienced a decline leading to further shrinkage of the profit margins. Social Factors With the enhancement in the life styles of the habitants in USA, the usage of the automobiles has also been increased leading to the increase in the demand side. Technological Factors With the technological advancements, there have been changes in the mining of the petrochemical products. So, all these technological developments have been influential to decide on the mining and refining of the petrochemical products. Environmental Factors Environment is a significant influential factor to control the petrochemical industry. Federal government has come up with an act, The Pollution Prevention Act, to control the adverse effect of the petrochemical organisations. This act is a policy to eliminate or reduce the waste generation at a source, if that is f easible at that time. It directs its government to commence an appropriate program to collect the information, transfer the technology well as offering financial assistance to the states to execute this policy. In this way the federal government motivates the states to promote the waste reduction techniques at the source. Furthermore, even the state governments have become increasingly active to address the environmental and safety issues related to the petrochemical industry. European Petrochemical Industry European Petrochemical industry is one of the leading petrochemical sectors across the globe. A number of oil companies in there has dealt into the processing of raw materials using own oil refineries into some fundamental petrochemical products and even to the downstream products. The petrochemical industry in Europe is experiencing forward integration in this industry. A number of oil companies carry out petrochemical activities in several locations in Europe. Among the signif icant petrochemical companies, companies like DOW, ICI, DSM and BASF in Western Europe deal with the ethylene production in Europe. â€Å"After a series of reorganisations in the 1980s and 1990s, the changes in the European chemical industry have indeed continued: DSM’s petrochemical operations were acquired by Sabic†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Camp, 2005, p.15). A PESTLE analysis has been carried out to understand different factors