Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: (1) worldwide economic, political,
and capital markets conditions
and other factors beyond the Company's control, including
natural and other disasters or climate change affecting the operations
of the Company or its customers
and suppliers; (2) the Company's credit ratings
and its cost
of capital; (3) competitive conditions
and customer preferences; (4) foreign currency exchange rates
and fluctuations in those rates; (5) the timing
and market acceptance
of new product offerings; (6) the
availability and cost
of purchased components, compounds, raw materials
and energy (including
oil and natural gas and their derivatives) due to shortages, increased demand or supply interruptions (including those caused by
natural and other disasters
and other events); (7) the impact
of acquisitions, strategic alliances, divestitures,
and other unusual events resulting from portfolio management actions
and other evolving business strategies,
and possible organizational restructuring; (8) generating fewer productivity improvements than estimated; (9) unanticipated problems or delays with the phased implementation
of a global enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, or security breaches
and other disruptions to the Company's information technology infrastructure; (10) financial market risks that may affect the Company's funding obligations under defined benefit pension
and postretirement plans;
and (11) legal proceedings, including significant developments that could occur in the legal
and regulatory proceedings described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10 - K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017,
and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10 - Q (the «Reports»).
These incidents include over three - hundred unreported spills from 2012 to 2013, several significant leaks
of oil and polluted saltwater into streams
and farmland in the six months prior to the latest train derailment (see here
and here), a decade - old saltwater spill which is still being cleaned up coupled with a pipeline rupture discovered in September 2013 which will take another four years to clean,
and a
natural -
gas pipeline explosion across the border in Canada, which impacted
gas availability in several U.S. states during the winter
of 2014 (see here
and here).