The American Textile History Museum (ATHM), Lowell, Mass., recently inducted three textile industry
leaders — Stephanie Kwolek, Elliott White Springs and Robert Ten Broeck Stevens — into the American
Textile Hall of Fame’s (ATHF’s) Class of 2011. ATHF recognizes individuals, corporations and
institutions that have made significant contributions to the U.S. textile industry.

Stephanie Kwolek began working in Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont’s textile fibers research
laboratory in 1946, and in 1971, she developed Kevlar®, a para-aramid fiber that is exceptionally
strong and used in various consumer and industrial applications including military and law
enforcement protection. Kwolek was the fourth female member inducted into the National Inventors
Hall of Fame in 1994, and was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1996 and the Perkin Medal
in 1997. Now retired, Kwolek currently serves on the National Research Council and National Academy
of Sciences and works as a consultant for DuPont.

Elliott White Springs took over Springs Cotton Mills — now known as Springs Creative Products
Group LLC, Rock Hill, S.C., a supplier of retail fabrics, packaged craft kits and home products —
from his father in 1931 and transformed the business despite the Great Depression. Springs
consolidated five existing run-down mills into one company, built a finishing plant, established a
sales organization and modernized the business. His unique Springmaid advertising campaign remains
one of the most notable in the history of advertising in the United States. During his 28 years of
leadership, the company’s assets increased by $125.5 million and its sales increased by $176
million. When he died in 1959, Springs Cotton Mills was the seventh-largest textile company in the
United States. Springs was an accomplished aviator, having served in WWI, during which he was the
fifth-ranked Flying Ace and received the British Distinguished Flying Cross and the American
Distinguished Service Cross; and also served in WWII as lieutenant colonel. He also authored nine
books, three screenplays and many short stories.

Robert Ten Broeck Stevens joined J.P. Stevens and Co. Inc., a North Andover, Mass.-based
woolen mill, in 1921 and became president upon his father’s death in 1929. During his tenure, the
company experienced strong growth grew from a regional textile organization to a leader in U.S.
textiles. His many outside activities included a term as Chairman of the New York Federal Reserve
Bank; Colonel in the Army’s Quartermaster Corps concentrating on military textile requirements;
Secretary of the Army under President Eisenhower; and principal in the Army-McCarthy hearings, in
which he supported military personnel. Stevens became Chairman of the company in 1955 and served
until his retirement in 1965.

“Each of these honorees has had a profound impact on the textile industry in unique ways,”
said Jim Coleman, president and CEO, ATHM. “They are worthy of great recognition for contributions
they made to shape the history and future of textiles, and we are honored to pay tribute to their
achievements.”

September 27, 2011

Hyosung, the largest spandex producer in the world, has begun production of creora® spandex in the
newest plant located in Araquari in the Santa Catarina region of Brazil. There are Hyosung creora®
spandex plants in South Korea, China (3 plants), Turkey and Vietnam. Hyosung opened the factories
in Turkey & Vietnam in 2008 and the Brazil plant will officially open this September.

“We are excited to begin production in our phase I $100 million dollar investment in Brazil
for 10,000 tons. Many Brazilian and South American brands and retailers require production
proximity for speed to market, so we are now better positioned to ensure fast delivery to these
regions.

We have plans for additional investment to achieve production of 150,000 tons total because
we believe that demand for spandex will continue. We want to offer the best combination of
innovation with best quality through our state of the art, patented manufacturing processes for our
customers to continue to grow and thrive.” said President Whang of Hyosung’s Spandex Performance
Unit.

September 27, 2011

Switzerland-based Huntsman Corp. has announced plans to restructure its Textile Effects business in
order to improve its long-term global competitiveness. The changes could include closing production
and support offices in Basel affecting some 600 employees. Up to 500 positions may be eliminated,
and 100 jobs may move to other Huntsman locations worldwide. However, the company reports it is
committed to innovation and will not make any changes within the Textile Effects Research &
Technology department based in Basel. In addition, the restructuring may also include 100 new
positions in key markets. All changes are scheduled to occur before the end of 2013, and the
company has begun talks with labor representatives.

“We need to take bold action to fundamentally improve the poor financial performance of our
Textile Effects division,” said Peter R. Huntsman, president and CEO, Huntsman Corp. “We’ve made
extensive and costly efforts to boost this division’s competitiveness since acquiring the business
in 2006, but as customers and competitors alike have increasingly moved their centers of business
to Asia, we must realign ourselves according to these industry trends. The recent strengthening of
the Swiss franc has greatly impacted our cost structure in Switzerland, which just serves to
reinforce the need for realignment.”

“The planned restructuring builds on the difficult, but successful changes undertaken in the
last few years and is designed to ensure that the TE Business is strongly positioned to compete
successfully against the ever increasing Asian competitor base and deliver long-term profitable
growth for our shareholders and associates,” said Paul Hulme, president, Huntsman Textile Effects.
“Also, importantly from a customer perspective, in case of a possible closure, the transition of
production to other Huntsman sites will be carefully phased, ensuring continued product
availability and deliveries. We will, of course, manage this process openly and fairly, treating
our employees with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

September 27, 2011

Researchers at North Carolina State University (NC State) have developed a nanofiber production
technique that can significantly increase output compared with traditional needle electrospinning
(TNE) and allow industrial-scale production of nanofibers comparable in quality to those formed
using TNE.

The research team includes Dr. Russell E. Gorga, associate professor, Textile Engineering,
Chemistry and Science, and program director of Textile Engineering; Dr. Laura I. Clarke, associate
professor, Physics; Dr. Jason Bochinski, research assistant professor, Physics; and Nagarajan
Thoppey Muthuraman, graduate research assistant. The team reported its findings in a paper titled
“Edge electrospinning for high throughput production of quality nanofibers,” published in the
journal “Nanotechnology.”

Nanofibers can be integrated in nonwoven fabrics used in filtration, energy storage, tissue
regeneration and other applications. TNE creates high-quality, relatively inexpensive nanofibers,
but the process is time-intensive and not very efficient. More efficient technologies are
available, but Gorga said there have been limitations, including inconsistent nanofiber diameters,
associated with various methods.

“We have been trying to come up with a process that is not sensitive to the type of solvent
or polymer system used,” Gorga said. In experiments conducted using equipment designed and
fabricated in-house, the team worked with two polymer types that had different viscosities and
solvent volatility.

The technique involves electrospinning from the edge of a bowl filled with a polymer
solution whose surface is hit with a short, high-voltage burst that causes simultaneous formation
of jets that migrate to approximately equidistant positions on the bowl’s edge and spin nanofibers
onto a cylindrical collector surrounding the bowl. The technique produced 40 times the number of
nanofibers produced using TNE and showed potential for even higher output.

Nanofibers produced ranged from 100 to 200 nanometers (nm) in diameter, and Gorga said the
process can be tuned to produce a specified diameter. “One caveat of high-throughput technologies
is that some of the data show they’re not really producing submicron-diameter fibers. We don’t want
to compromise the diameter because there’s a push to go even smaller – to 50 nm or even 10 nm.”

The project received funding from the National Science Foundation and NC State’s Faculty
Research and Professional Development Fund.

September/October 2011

Kings Mountain, N.C.-based Patrick Yarn Mills, a manufacturer of eco-friendly high-performance
industrial yarns, has installed a new solar power system — which it reports is one of the largest
privately owned solar power systems in the North Carolina Piedmont region. Manufactured by Argand
Energy Solutions, the system produces 140,000 kilowatt hours of photovoltaic energy each year,
saving the equivalent of 11,310 gallons of gasoline or 234 barrels of oil — enough to power 14
average-sized houses. A grant from the North Carolina State Energy Office made the installation
possible, and all of the system’s major components qualified for funding under the “Buy American”
provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“We’re excited to be generating our own electricity from the sun,” said Gilbert Patrick,
president, Patrick Yarns. “We’ve been committed to sustainability for years, and this is another
step toward helping create a better planet for future generations and a better environment for our
community. It also provides customers with environmentally sound, Spun by the Sun™ solutions to
their textile requirements.”

The company prides itself on being an eco-friendly business and uses highly efficient
lighting and motors, produces no greenhouse gases and is working toward a goal of zero landfill
waste. Patrick Yarns also manufactures a line of eco-friendly textile yarns under the Earthspun®
brand.

This is the last in a series of exhibitor previews leading up to ITMA 2011, which will open this
week in Barcelona, Spain. As everybody knows, Italy is one of the major players supplying textile
machinery to the world. In this issue, the Rupp Report pays respects to one of the well-known
Italian companies, Savio Macchine Tessili S.p.A. in Pordenone. For exactly 100 years, since its
founding in 1911, Savio has played an important role. The Rupp Report talked to Paolo Puntoni,
Savio’s marketing manager.

Today, Savio — as a member of the Italy-based Itema Group — comprises the Itema Spinning
business unit. In addition to the production site in Pordenone, Savio also operates daughter
companies including production sites in China — Savio (Shandong) Textile Machinery Co. Ltd. — and
India — Savio India Ltd. The company specializes in yarn-forming machinery including automatic
winders, two-for-one twisters and open-end rotor spinning frames.

Asian Market In The Foreground

Savio exports 95 percent of all the machinery it produces. “At the moment, China and India
are our most important export countries,” Puntoni said. These countries are customers for Savio’s
current top sellers, the manual winders Orion/M and Polar/M. “The Far East markets are still
requesting manual machines, even as there is increasing demand for fully automatic machines also in
the emerging markets, mainly to overcome the shortage of labor,” he added.

“After a period of rapid market reduction — which occurred in 2008 and the first half of 2009
due to a global financial crisis that has affected all manufacturing sectors — in the second half
of 2009, there has been a good market recovery, which lasted throughout 2010 and reached record
levels in the first half of 2011,” Puntoni continued.

According to Puntoni, the markets have been booming, thanks to the increased domestic demand
in several countries, especially in the Far East. However, from the second half of 2011, the market
has been moving toward lower levels, adjusting to market trends.

“For the time being,” Puntoni mentioned, “the market trend is still satisfactory after a boom
in the first part of the year 2011. And, of course, the current volatile currency situation is
influencing our business, because the majority of our sales are influenced by the euro/U.S. dollar
exchange situation.” And what are currently the most important market requirements for Savio’s
products? “Oh, this is quite clear,” he explained. “Our customers want machines that give value for
the money spent.”

ITMA Barcelona

Some 50 people will be present at the Savio booth at ITMA in Barcelona. The company invited
customers through its worldwide network of agencies. Great attendance is Puntoni’s expectation for
ITMA 2011.

The Future

Taking a look into the crystal ball, what are the targets of Savio for the next two years?
“We foresee a consolidation in the market,” Puntoni said. And how is Savio facing these challenges?
“We must be present to market trends with permanent technology developments. And for the coming
years we expect a repositioning of the market level for 2012,” he said.

September 20, 2011

Cotton Incorporated, Cary, N.C., has published “Life Cycle Assessment of Cotton Fiber and Fabric,”
a report that includes a life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle assessment (LCA) of cotton
products with the goal of setting benchmarks of potential environmental impacts throughout the
global cotton supply chain. The report is part of the Memphis, Tenn.-based Cotton Foundation’s
Vision 21 Project, managed by Cotton Incorporated; the National Cotton Council, Memphis; and Cotton
Council International, Washington. The comprehensive two-year study — managed by PE International,
a global strategic consultancy that provides expertise, software solutions and other services
related to sustainability performance — involved collection of data and quantification of material
and energy inputs related to fiber production and fabric manufacturing, and establishment of a
model of the environmental impact of a knit golf shirt and woven cotton trousers from fiber through
disposal.

Data from China, India and the United States — the top three cotton-producing countries —
were averaged to determine the LCI for the cradle-to-gate fiber production phase. Data from mills
in Turkey, India, China and Latin America — the top four textile-processing regions — were averaged
to determine the gate-to-gate fabric production LCI. Secondary sources added to the data used in
calculating the cut-and-sew and consumer-use LCI.

The LCA involves the environmental impact of cotton without regard to other fibers. “The
cotton LCA is about measurement, not marketing,” said Berrye Worsham, president and CEO, Cotton
Incorporated. “The textile industry and consumers alike are weary of competition-motivated green
marketing. This project is about facts, and establishing a baseline to measure cotton’s
environmental gains moving forward.”

“Vision of U.S. Cotton’s 21st Century,” or Vision 21, includes four initiatives: First, it
analyses demographics and structure in Asian markets for consumer apparel and textile products, and
also looks at underlying sources of change. Second, it establishes a program titled “Cotton’s
Revolutions” to provide a forum within the world cotton textile industry to discuss influences on
the textile and apparel sector through 2025. Third, it looks at sustainability and the
environmental aspects of the U.S. cotton chain from production through consumer handling. Finally,
it provides a study of U.S. raw cotton flow with a logistical analysis from bale formation through
delivery to the spinning mill.

September/October 2011