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Whole new technologies such as nylon, the first all-synthetic fiber, and neoprene, the first U.S. commercial synthetic rubber, have sprung from Du Pont's cornucopian test tubes. Last year 175 manufacturers built the tops of 12 million pairs of shoes with Du Pont's three-year-old synthetic Corfam, which is supposed to look, feel and "breathe" like natural leather. Early this year, after twelve years and $8,000,000 in research, the company invaded the rich pharmaceutical field by marketing an antiflu drug named Symmetrel, which can be taken orally as either a pill or syrup...
...Breadbasket. Despite such painstaking achievements-and ironically, partly because of them-Du Pont this year is suffering from what President Lammot du Pont Copeland (TIME cover, Nov. 27, 1964) delicately calls "a difficult adjustment period." After reaching a record $3.19 billion in 1966, the company's sales in the first quarter of this year fell to $755 million, 4% below their year-earlier level. Profits plunged 24% to $78 million, and the company expects no better results from the April-June quarter. "When autos, electrical appliances, steel and home furnishings are down, it hits us right in the breadbasket...
...Pont's troubles center in the field it dominates: man-made fibers. As the leading U.S. maker of nylon, Dacron, Orion and several other synthetics, Du Pont depends on textile companies for a third of its sales volume. But the textile industry skidded into a sharp slump this year because of excess inventory, rising imports and falling prices. And that downturn caught chemical companies in the midst of a major expansion of fiber-making plants. One result is that the wholesale price of Dacron has dropped 40% in the past year. The problem, says Copeland, "can well be with...
...freer trade in such fields as farm produce, tobacco and aluminum, U.S. negotiators agreed to hefty reductions in chemical levies. With those blows, plus a 30% loss in earnings after the Government forced the company to disgorge its 63 million-share holding of General Motors, the price of Du Pont stock has fallen almost 50% from its 1964 high of $293.75. Last week, after losing another $2.50, it closed at $153.25. Even so, Du Pont remains the highest-priced stock in the Dow-Jones industrial average of 30 blue-chip companies. Its plunge has therefore pulled down that bellwether index...
Another Nylon? To rebound, Du Pont still puts its faith in its prolific test tube. Among other promising ventures, it has recently developed a cheap but strong plastic heat exchanger, a line of nylon shutters and plastic vanity tops, and a compound called Zeset that keeps wool sweaters shrinkproof and enables felt hats to retain their shape and stiffness. For the future, Du Pont researchers envision such wonders as ski jackets that grow thicker and warmer when the temperature drops, curtains that change color or covering power when the sun hits, a fiber product that will remove salt or waste...