Weak market conditions drove a dramatic decline in overall global demand for many industries, which affected Celanese’s (CE) operations. Recessionary trends, coupled with inventory de-stocking, resulted in sharp volume declines in the Advanced Engineered Materials and the Acetyl Intermediates businesses.
The company expects volumes to remain under pressure in 2009, even with the easing of inventory de-stocking. Thus, we rate the shares a Sell with a target of $20.50.Zacks Investment Research
