NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) June 4, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it revised its outlook on Eastman Chemical Co. to negative from stable. At the same time, we lowered the short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings to 'A-3' from 'A-2' and affirmed the 'BBB' long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on the company. Today's rating actions follow Eastman's announcement that it has increased its ownership in the Beaumont, Texas, coal gasification project to 100% from 50%. "While we expect this approximately $2 billion project to be financed with about 70% debt that will be non-recourse to Eastman, we believe that the project's strategic importance and financial relevance to Eastman has increased and that
