Technological maturity in the world petrochemical industry

Abstract

This article presents a methodological and empirical approach to the measurement of technological maturity in a process industry, such as petrochemicals, at the international level. The main conclusion is that the degree of technological maturity determined in the exercise may vary, depending on the indicator used for measuring the life cycle of the industry. This finding is very important because the conventional indicators of market dynamism or production do not always reflect the degree of technological maturity of an industry or sector. Since technology is a decisive factor in the degree of maturity, other variables also need to be incorporated, especially regarding the technological dimension. The methodology of the present study includes a typology for each result with respect to competitiveness, for each form of maturity, with emphasis on the role and characteristics of technology as a source of long-term competitiveness (sections II and III);, using market, production and technology variables located around the life cycle of products and the value chain. In the analysis of the evolution of the petrochemical industry and its production and technological features, special emphasis is placed on two types of production processes (continuous and batch-type processes); and two types of business: commodities, and special petrochemical products (sections IV and V);. After presenting the results and types of technological maturity for each variable, the correlation of the variables used is assessed (sections VI and VII);. Finally, some conclusions are presented and the lines of research suggested by this exercise are outlined (section VIII);.