DuPont Leader: Agriculture & Nutrition Segment Delivering Growth and Innovation in 2010 and Beyond

NEW YORK, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DuPont  (NYSE: DD) Executive Vice President James C. Borel told analysts at the Credit Suisse Chemicals & Ag Conference today that the company expects its Agricultural & Nutrition segment to close 2010 with solid sales and earnings growth.  

"We continue to build our Agriculture & Nutrition pipeline and strategically invest and innovate worldwide, including in the emerging markets," Borel said.  "We believe the long-term fundamentals for this segment remain attractive and DuPont is strongly positioned to navigate short-term market variations based on our customer-centric and innovation-driven business model."

"Our intense focus on maximizing grower profitability through our Right Product Right Acre strategy and step-change crop protection products like Rynaxypyr® insecticide will deliver growth in sales, earnings and cash for our shareholders.  We also are making better decisions for product advancements because our growers are participating closely in the process," Borel added.  

Borel noted that 2010 harvest results are just starting to roll in and DuPont expects the performance will please growers.

"We remain confident about 2011 based on our strong line-up of new products, including AcreMax® 1 and AcreMax® RW for seeds, Plainview™ herbicide, and many other exciting innovations," he said.

"The common thread for DuPont's businesses remains market-driven science and innovation that are focused on some of the most important global challenges: feeding the world through increased agricultural productivity, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, protecting people and the environment from harm, and responding to growth in emerging regions," said Borel.  

The United Nations projects a 34 percent increase in global population representing about 9 billion people - about 150,000 new people to feed every day - by 2050.  If population growth projections continue as expected, Borel stressed the need to be more productive on every acre or hectare of land farmed and innovation is going to be a key contributor.

DuPont (www.dupont.com) is a science-based products and services company.  Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere.  Operating in more than 90 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.

Forward-Looking Statements:  This news release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections.  All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the company's strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures and financial results are forward-looking statements.  Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "projects," "indicates," and similar expressions.  These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions.  Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by DuPont, particularly its latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q, as well as others, could cause results to differ materially from those stated.  These factors include, but are not limited to changes in the laws, regulations, policies and economic conditions, including inflation, interest and foreign currency exchange rates, of countries in which the company does business; competitive pressures; successful integration of structural changes, including restructuring plans, acquisitions, divestitures and alliances; cost of raw materials, research and development of new products, including regulatory approval and market acceptance; seasonality of sales of agricultural products; and severe weather events that cause business interruptions, including plant and power outages, or disruptions in supplier and customer operations. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements as a result of future developments or new information.

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SOURCE DuPont