I believe it is too early to change that view, although the hurdle is indeed higher. Speaking at the Fourth Annual Goldman Sachs Chemical Investors Forum, Deavenport said Eastman's second quarter business is improving overall. He said volumes are up through April, running about 4 percent ahead of the strong first four months of last year.
Pricing is essentially flat compared with a year ago.
Raw material costs, mainly paraxylene and propane, are coming down in the second quarter, and we are making good progress on share repurchases. Deavenport focused his remarks on growth opportunities beyond Eastman's flagship PET packaging plastics business. Current worldwide demand for PET is 6.3 billion pounds and is expected to be near 13 billion pounds by the year 2000. Eastman is committed to the fine chemicals business and has bought plants in both Hong Kong and Wales to serve the growing markets of Asia and Europe. Spectar and PETG copolyesters will be manufactured at the Kuantan facility.