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A doubling of U.S. residential construction "is not out of the question," DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman said on CNBC Tuesday.
DuPont [ DD 42.51 
+0.42 (+1.00%) ], which one of a handful of bright spots in the market Tuesday on the back of a strong earnings report, supplies the construction market with products such as Tyvek wrap and Corian.
Housing starts are unlikely to reach 2 million or more, levels last seen in 2006, but Kullman said starts could rise from less than half a million now to somewhere between 1 and 1.5 million.
"Doubling of housing is not out of the question — it’s a matter of when," Kullman said.
Housing was just one area of strength for DuPont, which reported strong results in all segments across the globe for the quarter, as profits nearly tripled.
Overall, DuPont's sales jumped 25 percent in the quarter, fueled by a surge in sales in emerging markets — up 33 percent — and in Asia — up 47 percent. Sales in the United States were also up, if only 18 percent, and in Europe sales were up 24 percent. The company also forecast 2010 earnings will be well above expectations.
Kullman cited DuPont's double-digit top line growth in all segments and in all regions of the world on CNBC, but said, "we continue to see it as slow, sequential improvement."
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