HORGEN, Switzerland — April 5, 2012 — In line with the Company’s commitment to innovation, Dow
Europe GmbH (“Dow”) has announced today enhanced formulation and testing capabilities at the
Performance Plastics Innovation Center at Dow’s European Headquarters in Horgen, Switzerland. 
Responding to extensive growth in the use of elastomers for adhesives and flexible membranes, Dow
has invested in new lab-scale equipment at the Center which will help accelerate technical
developments in these key market segments. Among the new lab capabilities is the installation of a
hot melt adhesive coating and lamination unit and a direct extrusion line for flexible
membranes.   “The Performance Plastics Innovation Center will now house some of the
industry’s most advanced testing facilities for our products in adhesive and flexible membranes,”
said Pierre Burelli, EMEA Commercial Director, Dow Elastomers. “We see our lab as an extension of
our customers’ technical capabilities. We have the ability to develop and test products
simultaneously with them, and, in some cases, we can offer our lab to customers who may not have
these testing capabilities in-house.”

Dow Elastomers will host an Open House event at the Innovation Center in Horgen on April 12,
giving customers, suppliers and other key industry stakeholders a chance to see the new technology
first hand.  Specialists from across Dow will showcase the advanced capabilities of the site
and representatives from Nordson Engineering, Eastman Chemical Company, BASF, Albemarle and
KraussMaffei Berstorff will give presentations on their technologies for these applications. The
new equipment includes:

    * Nordson Coating and Lamination line designed to help evaluate the
processing performance of hot melt adhesives and to prepare samples for adhesion testing.  Key
applications are in health and hygiene, such as non-woven top sheet and back sheet lamination, roll
goods and pressure sensitive adhesives.

    * Co-rotating twin-screw extruder (25mm) combined with a flat-slit die and
three-roll calender for direct extrusion of flexible membranes. Key applications include roofing
and waterproofing membranes, flooring, automotive skins, noise vibration dampening and artificial
leather.

“This application-dedicated equipment offers capabilities that will help us develop solutions
faster based on Dow polymers which address specific market criteria and industry demands. For
membrane applications, we now have the ability to produce real life structures, to demonstrate the
highly flexible performance of solutions based on VERSIFY™, ENGAGE™ or INFUSE™ Elastomers from Dow
and test against some of the most stringent of industry standards like fire performance,” said Kurt
Kronawittleithner, EMEA R&D Leader, Dow Elastomers. “In addition, for hot melt adhesive
applications our new testing equipment can be used to determine overall performance on a variety of
substrates with multiple application modes, demonstrating the powerful bonds you can achieve with
AFFINITY™ GA and INFUSE™ Elastomers.”

Dow offers a broad portfolio of Elastomer resins that address some of the specific
performance requirements and industry standards for adhesives and flexible membranes.  Hot
melt adhesives based on AFFINITY™ GA Polyolefin Elastomers and INFUSE™ Olefin Block Copolymers
(OBCS) can offer powerful bonds, increased sealing mileage, broad temperature range performance,
exceptional color stability and virtually char- and odor-free processing.  For producers of
flexible membranes, VERSIFY™ Plastomers and Elastomers, ENGAGE™ Polyolefin Elastomers and INFUSE™
OBCS can offer ease of processing, high flexibility and remarkable welding properties in addition
to meeting critical fire performance in roofing and other building applications.

Source: Dow Europe GmbH

YPRES, Belgium — April 16, 2012 — The Board of Directors, the Management Committee and all of the
employees of the Picanol Group would like to express their deep sadness following the passing away
of Mr. Emmanuel Steverlynck.

Emmanuel Steverlynck was born in 1922. He was the second son of Charles Steverlynck
(1888-1984), who founded Picañol in 1936. In 1952, Emmanuel took over the commercial management of
the company and the sales of Picañol weaving machines. Under his leadership and with the help of
his father Charles and his brother Bernard Steverlynck (1920-1976), the company overcame all of the
difficulties of the early years and became a world player. Familiar with the world of textiles
thanks to the family weaving mills in Vichte, and blessed with an enormous commercial talent,
Emmanuel succeeded in building up a worldwide sales organization and thus truly putting Picañol on
the world map.

As an Honorary President of our group he remained connected to the company, its employees and
its customers until the very end.

Emmanuel Steverlynck

Emmanuel Steverlynck passed away on Saturday morning at the age of 89. The private funeral
service will take place this week. On Saturday 28 April at 10.30 am, there will be a memorial
service in the cathedral of St. Martin and St. Nicholas in Ypres.

The Board of Directors, the Management Committee and all employees of the Picanol Group in
Belgium and abroad offer their sincere condolences to the Steverlynck family.



Posted on April 17, 2012

Source: Picanol Group

The term “compliance” is associated with the U.S. financial sector and affected areas of high risk
with reference to insider trading and conflicts of interest. In Germany, compliance structures have
been developed since the 1990s due to legislative requirements that apply to all the banks and
insurance companies.

In Accordance With Established Guidelines

Compliance has been defined as “either a state of being in accordance with established
guidelines, specifications, or legislation or the process of [implementation].” As a legal concern,
compliance generally refers to behavior as it conforms to legislative provisions, such as those of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002.

Compliance in a regulatory context is an important issue for businesses, perhaps because the
number of regulations is increasing and companies often do not understand what they must do to be
in compliance with new laws. For example, SOX was passed to protect shareholders and the general
public from accounting errors and fraudulent practices such as those carried out by Enron and
WorldCom. As corporate managers have become more and more concerned with compliance issues,
businesses have begun using specialized software, consulting with compliance experts, and even
instituting a new corporate position of chief compliance officer (CCO).

Meanwhile, compliance structures and processes, developed in response to increasing
regulatory requirements for listed companies, are helping industrial companies prevent specific
business risks. The Compliance Department also covers the ethical conduct of a company’s own
compliance and other non-statutory regulations. On financial markets, compliance can build
confidence for the capital markets and their participants. Insider trading should be prevented.
Should be!

A Must For Stock Listed Companies

Large corporations take compliance issues very seriously — especially since some of them
were involved in costly corruption issues. In 2006, it was revealed that Siemens AG was keeping
black accounts — that is, an alternate set of books under the table. Employees of the industrial
group corrupted business partners in order to win contracts. When this news emerged to the public,
Siemens had to pay a high price: The forfeits in the United States and Germany amounted to 1.2
billion euros. The damage to the company’s image was huge, too. Siemens learned its lesson:
Hundreds of employees are now working in the compliance department.

Big Textile Companies Involved

In the meantime, compliance standards also have reached the textile machinery manufacturers.
For example, both big Swiss textile machinery producers — Rieter Management AG and OC Oerlikon AG —
are working strictly according to compliance rules or to the so-called “code of conduct.” In
Rieter’s annual report, it is mentioned that “Rieter revised its Code of Conduct in the year under
review (2011), taking into account customers’ current requirements and the OECD [Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development] guidelines for companies operating internationally. The code
of conduct remains an integral part of the contract of employment. Members of top management were
again examined in the year under review. In this way Rieter ensures that all those in positions of
leadership are also familiar with the principles of conduct and communicate them to their
employees.”

On the other hand, the Oerlikon Group mentions in its annual report for 2011 that “the basis
of the Group’s compliance program is the Oerlikon Code of Conduct introduced in 2009. The code
serves as the compass for our employees, pointing the way to responsible, ethically and legally
proper behavior in their everyday business dealings.

“Oerlikon undertook extensive steps in 2011 to further integrate compliance into its
corporate culture and business processes. An important addition to our current policy is the new
whistle blowing hotline — which was set up early in the year to serve as an additional reporting
channel for potential irregularities. … [Four hundred] managers received comprehensive ethics
training as part of a Group-wide program, the main goal of which was to increase awareness and to
teach the correct approach when facing this compliance risk. The training was focused on
international and regional anti-corruption regulations and on Oerlikon’s own anti-corruption
policy.”

Suppliers Are Involved

The compliance rules of the big companies extend increasingly to their suppliers. As
Oerlikon states in its 2011 report: “To further increase the transparency of Oerlikon’s working
relationships and minimize potential third-party compliance risks, a process for business partner
due diligence was introduced in 2011. Under this process, an exhaustive integrity review is
conducted before Oerlikon enters into business relationships with third parties. The results of
these comprehensive background checks are carefully reviewed and form the basis of Oerlikon’s
decision to enter any working relationship.”

More Efforts Necessary?

It is understandable that company executives don’t like the issue of compliance. Too much
work, they say. However, compliance specialists warn strongly not to underestimate the risk of
violations of law. Thus, for example, the risk to get into a bribery scandal has increased
tremendously. Especially the United States and the United Kingdom have issued sharp anti-corruption
laws.

Consequences

Coming back to textiles, Oerlikon further writes: “All alerts [undertaken by Oerlikon] are
carefully examined. Should any allegations be substantiated, a thorough investigation will be
launched. The focus of such an investigation is twofold: first, to identify and correct wrong doing
and, second, to uncover possible weaknesses in processes or organization and to introduce
improvements.”

As a consequence, in 2011, the company reported taking disciplinary steps in five compliance
violation cases: “[Seventeen] alerts to potential compliance cases were received through the
various reporting channels in 2011 — five more than in the previous year. … These actions
included letters of reprimand, dismissals and, in one case, charges against a former employee.”

To summarize these entire costly activities, one could say what many fathers have told their
young children: “Behave!”

April 10, 2012

Vancouver, Canada-based Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc. (NAT) — a developer of sustainable
biomass resources from flax and hemp, and provider of CRAiLAR® enzymatic technology for processing
bast fibers — reports it has entered into a short-term Crailar Flax fiber development agreement
with New York City-based apparel company PVH Corp. under which PVH will evaluate the fiber for use
in dress and sports shirt lines including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW and
Bass.

PVH has stated in its corporate environmental policy that it is working to minimize the
environmental impact of its business units and operational activities — specifically in regards to
waste management, energy reduction, water usage and elimination of harmful substances — and is
looking to partner with vendors that have the same sustainability commitments.

The Crailar process converts bast fibers into materials that are as soft as cotton but more
durable and eco-friendly, according to NAT. These bast fibers can be blended with cotton and other
fibers; and can be processed using existing spinning, weaving, knitting or other fabric-forming
processes. NAT states that Crailar’s manufacturing process typically enables partner brands to
significantly reduce water and chemical usage at both the agriculture and manufacturing stages, and
it also reduces shrinkage.

“We are excited about the prospect of integrating this new all-natural fiber into our
products,” said Emanuel Chirico, chairman and CEO, PVH Corp. “We enter this agreement with the
belief that Crailar can move us closer to our goals of progressive environmental standards,
including responsible water usage overall, and significant reduction in hazardous chemical waste in
water, air and inputs from farmland to finished products.”

Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Demetrios Marantis — who is responsible for U.S.
trade negotiations and enforcement in Asia and Africa; and USTR global initiatives on trade and
development, labor and the environment — was in Los Angeles last week to meet with apparel and
textile manufacturers and other local businesses involved in international trade. The meetings
focused on how U.S. trade initiatives and customs enforcement can help boost exports and realize
President Barack Obama’s goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015.

Marantis visited three factories including women’s apparel brand Karen Kane, which houses
its design, screen printing, research, pattern making, cutting, shipping, production and customer
service departments in its 130,000-square-foot headquarters in Vernon, Calif.; denim apparel
manufacturer New Fashion Products Inc., which produces up to 56,000 units per week in vertically
integrated facilities in Los Angeles and Mexico; and Blue River Denim Inc., an independent denim
finisher that works with many popular jeans companies and uses special processing such as laser
etching and ozone water-free laundering. Following the factory tours, Marantis participated in a
roundtable discussion with Los Angeles-based textile and apparel companies to learn of challenges
those companies face in dealing with various U.S. trading partners.

Following the meetings, Marantis spoke with Textile World about the Korea-United States Free
Trade Agreement (KORUS), which was enacted last month, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), for
which a 12th round of negotiations will take place in Dallas in May.

With regard to U.S.-South Korea trade, Marantis said that between 2005 and 2011, U.S.
textile and apparel exports to South Korea grew by 73 percent from $241 million to $418 million,
and U.S. imports of South Korean textiles and apparel declined by 51 percent from $1.9 billion to
$928 million. Areas of high U.S. export growth include tailored men’s and women’s apparel, knit
shirts, sweaters, dresses, filament yarn and nonwoven fabrics. Marantis also noted that under
KORUS, 70 percent of Korea’s tariffs on U.S. textile and apparel imports have now been removed,
with the rest to phase out over the next five to 10 years. “Our exports to Korea were already
growing, and I think KORUS will help level the playing field and give U.S. products a competitive
edge over products from other countries. I’m hopeful that our exports of textiles and apparel to
Korea will grow significantly as a result of the agreement,” he added, repeating government
statistics that Korea represents a $1 trillion economy and that U.S. exports to Korea are expected
to grow by $10 billion to $11 billion per year and support 70,000 U.S. jobs overall.

Marantis also spoke about the TPP and the expectations and concerns of importers and U.S.
textile and apparel manufacturers. “There are both opportunities and challenges,” he acknowledged.
“For importers, it provides new sourcing opportunities in [TPP partner] Vietnam, and for
manufacturers, it provides a new platform for exporting. There are sensitivities with Vietnam,
given that it is a potential export powerhouse and what that means for U.S. manufacturers. We’re
trying to achieve a balance that will allow us to recognize the sensitivities in this sector and
also ensure that new opportunities for both sourcing and exports are realized. One way we’re trying
to do that is to ensure that we use the yarn-forward rule of origin in this agreement.” He added
that with the yarn-forward rule in place, tariff benefits will extend only to TPP parties and not
to third parties, and the agreement will create trade and sourcing patterns integrated from fiber
to end product all within the TPP region. “I am hopeful that as TPP is concluded, we will have this
balance that will include something importers can rely on vis-à-vis new sourcing opportunities,
have tools in place to address the sensitivities our sector has and create regional trade flows in
a way that helps to boost U.S. textile and apparel exports,” he said.

April 10, 2012

South Africa-based Sappi Ltd. — a wood pulp and paper producer with operations in South Africa, the
United States and Europe; a joint venture in China; and sales offices worldwide — is investing $170
million to convert its Sappi Fine Paper North America kraft pulp mill in Cloquet, Minn., for
production of chemical cellulose that will be processed into rayon for textile applications such as
fabrics and disposable nonwoven products. Construction is set to begin this month, and completion
is anticipated in May 2013. Once converted, the mill is expected to produce 330,000 metric tons of
chemical cellulose annually.

Cloquet Mill, established in 1898, underwent a major upgrade in the 1990s. According to Mike
Schultz, project director in charge of the conversion, it is the most modern pulp mill in North
America and produces pulp using batch cooking technology, which is suited for making chemical
cellulose, rather than continuous cooking, another pulp-making technology that is not suitable for
making chemical cellulose. “We will still have the ability to make kraft pulp if we choose to, but
the intent will be to begin producing chemical cellulose as quickly as we can and produce as much
as the market will support,” he said.

The pulp will be shipped primarily to China, Indonesia and India, where it will be processed
into rayon fiber for various textile applications. Schultz said there currently is not a market for
the pulp in the United States, but if domestic opportunities should open up, the company will be
ready to supply that market as well.

Sappi’s Southern Africa division currently is producing chemical cellulose at its Saiccor
Mill in South Africa. With an annual production capacity of 850,000 metric tons, that mill is the
largest producer of chemical cellulose worldwide, according to the company. Conversion of a second
mill in South Africa is underway, and once that conversion, along with the Cloquet Mill conversion,
is completed, the company will be able to produce more than 1.3 million metric tons of chemical
cellulose per year.

The chemicals used in the processing of the pulp will be recovered and reused, Schultz noted.
In addition, byproducts of the process can be used in other products, for example, pickling salt
and sweetener for gum, among other products.

April 10, 2012