The ratings on Wilmington, Del.-based E.I. DuPont De Nemours&Co. reflect its excellent business risk profile as one of the world's premier chemical, specialty materials, and seed producers, with annual sales of about $30 billion. An intermediate financial risk profile tempers these strengths. Standard&Poor's Ratings Services is concerned that weak demand stemming from poor global economic conditions could cause operating performance to fall short of our expectations, despite management's aggressive steps to cut costs and lower net working capital. In addition, we believe there is a risk that unfunded postretirement liabilities, which increased sharply as of year-end 2008, could experience further material increases, or that related funding requirements could rise meaningfully in coming years if financial markets
