Austria-based Lenzing AG has sold its plastics filaments business to a consortium of private
investors headed by Global Equity Partners (GEP), Austria, for an undisclosed price. The business,
which produces primarily plastic bristles and monofilaments for industrial and consumer products,
includes Pedex GmbH and Hahl Filaments GmbH, both based in Germany; Hahl Filaments s.r.o, Czech
Republic; and Hahl Inc., Lexington, S.C.

“We want to focus our resources more on our core business cellulose fibers in the future,”
said Peter Untersperger, CEO, Lenzing, explaining that the plastics business no longer fits into
the company’s strategy and would have better development potential under a different owner.

“The business is well positioned, their market position is very good and they ideally fit our
investment focus on expanding medium-sized industrial companies,” said Michael Tojner, CEO, GEP.

Lenzing also reported that its 2010 financial results set an all-time high, with preliminary
consolidated sales of 1.77 billion euros — up 45 percent over 2009 sales — and preliminary
consolidated income from operations of 231.9 million euros — 103 percent higher than the 2009 total
of $114.2 million euros. The company has invested considerable monies to expand its fiber
manufacturing capacity worldwide and anticipates positive results in the coming year and beyond
because of its strong position in the cellulosic fiber sector
(See ”
Lenzing
Announces Further Tencel®, Viscose Expansions,” www.
TextileWorld.com, December 14, 2010).

February 22, 2011

Italy-based RadiciGroup — a global manufacturer of man-made fibers, chemicals and plastics — has
acquired Germany-based dorix GmbH, formerly Selbitzer Chemiefaser GmbH, manufacturer of dorix®
polyamide (PA)6 and reilen polypropylene (PP) staple products.

RadiciGroup expects the acquisition will enable it to expand its product range, which
includes raw and solution-dyed PA6 staple products offered under the Radilon® staple fiber brand.

“With this acquisition we wanted to broaden our product offering in the textile floor
covering market and others,” said Oscar Novali, managing director, Fashion&Interiors business
unit, which includes Radici Yarn S.p.A. “Our Italian site in Villa d’Ogna and the German facility
complement one another. … In addition to the fine counts we already manufacture at Radici Yarn,
now we will be able to provide high counts up to 300 [decitex]. We will also have greater
flexibility, which is a key asset for the production of both the raw and solution-dyed versions of
our products. Moreover, dorix GmbH’s extensive experience in custom colour formulation will allow
us to meet any special requirements of our customers.” Novali also noted the strength of the dorix
brand name, which RadiciGroup will continue to promote as a symbol of quality and tradition.

Maurizio Radici, RadiciGroup Board vice chairman and COO, stated that in addition to
strengthening the company’s presence in the floor covering sector, the acquisition of dorix also
bolsters its effort to strengthen the group’s polyamide vertical integration. “Last year we decided
to invest about EUR 10 million in order to expand the production capabilities of our Radici Fil SpA
plant in Italy, specializing in the manufacture of Radifloor® PA6 and PA 66 [bulked continuous
filament] BCF yarn. The latter items complement the staple products made by Radici Yarn and dorix
GmbH, in that they are ideal solutions not only for the contract sector but also for the
residential and automotive markets.” He also noted that the company supplies Radigreen® polyolefin
and polyamide yarn for synthetic turf for both residential and commercial applications, and that it
is the only supplier in Europe that has a fully vertically integrated P66 production chain.

February 22, 2011

A consortium comprising Thailand-based purified terephthalic acid and polyethylene terephthalate
polymer and polyester fiber manufacturer Indorama Ventures PCL (IVL) and Italy-based dyed polyester
yarn manufacturer Sinterama S.p.A. has agreed to acquire polyester fiber and filament manufacturer
Trevira GmbH, Germany. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011.

Trevira, which was reestablished in January 2010 in the wake of  its insolvency in 2009,
has manufacturing sites in Germany and Poland, employs some 1,350 workers, and reported a turnover
of 240 million euros in 2010. The company will become part of Indorama’s and Sinterama’s global
network under a new joint venture company, but will continue to operate as an independent company.

IVL employs a global workforce of approximately 3,500 people and had consolidated revenues of
$2.3 billion in 2009. Sinterama has some 650 employees in five countries and an annual turnover of
120 million euros.

“The globally renowned brand of Trevira is a welcome fit to our long term growth and we see
the opportunity for a lot of mutually beneficial synergies between Trevira and our global
organization,” said Aloke Lohia, CEO, IVL Group.

“We see Trevira as a long-term investment and important extension,” said Paolo Piana,
president, Sinterama. “Our products and assets complement each other — which means we will be able
to offer our customers a stronger and more flexible network for specialities.”

“For our customers and partners this means that we will in future have an even better
presence globally,” said Klaus Holz, managing director, Trevira. Holz will continue to lead
Trevira, and will be joined by Robert Gregan as new CEO, while Piana will serve as CEO of the new
holding company.

February 22, 2011

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — February 18, 2011 — The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers
Association (BIFMA) International was honored to be notified of selection by the American Society
of Interior Designers (ASID) this week as recipient of the 2011 ASID Innovation Award. The annual
ASID awards honor the achievements of individuals and companies in the field of interior design.

level™ certification is a multifaceted approach to sustainability certification. Based on the
ANSI/BIFMA e3 standard, level™ is a third-party verification program that provides manufacturers
with valuable resources for evaluating and communicating the environmental and social impacts of
their furniture products, company and processes. Under the level™ program, products and processes
are evaluated based on criteria including: materials,use of energy, atmospheric impacts, human
& ecosystem health, and social responsibility. Certification allows a manufacturer to ensure
greater sustainability for their products and throughout their entire supply chain.

BIFMA Executive Director Tom Reardon stated, “We are delighted to receive this prestigious
award. There are nearly 1000 products that have been level™certified to date and the program is
transforming our industry. We hope that customers are finding level™ to be a simple interface for
grappling with the array of environmental and social impacts that need to be considered in the
process of delivering increasingly sustainable products.”

A complete list of all certified products, certification bodies involved with the program,
consultants available to assist manufacturers, and educational/training opportunities providing
more in depth knowledge of the standard are all available at
www.levelcertified.org. ASID Award winners will be
recognized at Celebration during ASID@NeoCon, an awards ceremony being held on June 13, 2011 at the
Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Posted on February 22, 2011

Source: BIFMA

ALMELO, The Netherlands — February 15, 2011 — TenCate Advanced Composites USA in Morgan Hill
(California, USA) is pleased to announce that a composite design utilizing TenCate thermoplastic
prepregs is the recipient of a 2011 JEC Composite Innovation Award. TenCate Cetex® brand of
PPS-based thermoplastic composite unitape is utilized in Cutting Dynamics award winning composite
aircraft seat design.

The 2011 JEC Thermoplastic Composite Innovation Award will be awarded to Cutting Dynamics
Inc., with TenCate Advanced Composites, A&P Technology and Ticona Engineering Polymers, which
teamed to develop a thermoplastic modular composite seat frame used in passenger seat assemblies on
lighter, more fuel-efficient aircraft.

The award will be presented during the 2011 JEC Awards ceremony at 5 p.m. Tuesday 29 March,
during the JEC Show in Paris, France. The 2011 JEC award winning modular composite seat frame from
Cutting Dynamics consists of a match molded seat back and seat pan that supports the seat cushion.
The frames depend on TenCate Cetex® TC 1100, a PPS / carbon fiber unitape that is braided into a
pre-form by A&P Technology, then shaped by Cutting Dynamics into a complex tube using a process
that is capable of achieving high volumes unique in the aerospace industry.

Jim Mondo, TenCate Advanced Composites Vice President of Thermoplastic Technology notes:
“This is truly a team award made possible by the innovations of each of the recipients with a
special recognition to Cutting Dynamics who developed the process and optimized the material form
that allowed this new composite seat design. We find it especially significant that several
companies including TenCate Advanced Composites, A&P Technology and Ticona Engineering Polymers
contributed in their areas of expertise to make this innovation possible.”

A&P Technology designed and engineered a braided preform from the TenCate Cetex® TC1100
unitape that exactly meets the geometry and mechanical requirements of the seat frame. This
collaboration allowed Cutting Dynamics to reduce process cost, increase process volume, and improve
both product aesthetics and overall quality.

Posted on February 22, 2011

Source: Royal Ten Cate

ZÜRICH, Switzerland — February 16, 2011 — The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)
has released the 2010 edition of its biennial International Production Cost Comparison — the only
consolidated source for benchmarking the yarn and fabric production costs prevailing in 8 of the
world’s most important textile manufacturing countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Italy, Korea,
Turkey and the USA.

The report is designed to highlight the implications of the ever-increasing capital intensity
of the primary textile industry, by tracing the impact of cost factors borne by manufacturers and
presenting them on a standardised basis. This allows the reader to readily compare elements of
total manufacturing costs across representative production facilities.

The presentation of manufacturing and total yarn and fabric costs incorporates a detailed
breakdown into the various cost components per kilogram of yarn and per meter of fabric, showing
their relative importance and influence in the countries under review.

The International Production Cost Comparison incorporates a wide range of cost factors, from
externally-determined factors like raw material and machinery prices through to the local prices of
labour, energy, water, capital and many other inputs to production.

The textile industry segments analysed are Spinning, Texturing, Weaving and Knitting, and
individual results are supplied for ring-spun, o-e, and textured yarns, and for fabrics woven and
knitted from each of these yarn types.

Manufacturing costs covered in the report are based on parameters specified by the textile
machinery companies Rieter, Oerlikon Barmag, ITEMA Weaving (Sultex) and Mayer & Cie., and thus
the representative cost structure for each country is derived from both “bottom-up” (investment
analysis) and “top-down” (surveyed) standpoints. While not attempting to exhaustively explain the
final sales price of yarns and fabrics, the International Production Cost Comparison nonetheless
provides a unique basis for considering variations in international costs on a technically robust,
yet accessible, foundation.

The CD-ROM of the 2010 edition of the International Production Cost Comparison (IPCC) can be
purchased from the ITMF.
http://www.itmf.org/cms/pages/publications/einzeln.php?id=6

Posted on February 22, 2011

Source: ITMF

St. Paul, Minn.-based Lawson Software has introduced Lawson Fashion Product Lifecycle Management
(PLM) on the Cloud — an economical entry-level version of the Lawson Fashion PLM Web-based suite of
applications that is used to help fashion companies manage products from design through production.

Lawson Fashion PLM on the Cloud is deployed through the Amazon EC2 cloud infrastructure,
which according to Lawson, helps speed implementation and facilitates its customers’ extension or
reduction of application use and computer processing power as their business and requirements
change.

“Lawson Fashion PLM on the Cloud helps simplify software ownership because customers do not
need to worry about the hardware and system management — Lawson takes care of that for them through
the Amazon infrastructure,” said Frédéric Champalbert, general manager of Fashion, Lawson Software.
“Customers deploying Fashion PLM on the Cloud also benefit because they access their applications
via a stable and secure Amazon platform with flexible computing power and 99.95% uptime.”

In addition to offering the software under a traditional standard license, Lawson is offering
a subscription-based licensing package, which requires a lower initial investment, offers customers
the option to convert to a perpetual license, and includes license, maintenance, support and
managed services.

February 15, 2011

Raytown, Mo.-based GE Energy has introduced Aspire, a patent-pending hydrophilic expanded
polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membrane that eliminates the need for filter manufacturers to
pre-wet cartridge filters with alcohol before shipping, which not only reduces process time and
costs but also helps to prevent bacteria growth during storage because the filters are shipped and
stored dry.

According to GE Energy, the membrane displays similar performance characteristics to those of
hydrophobic ePTFE membranes in regards to bacteria retention, high flow rate and chemical
resistance, while exhibiting durable hydrophilic characteristics and very low extractables. In
testing, Aspire membranes were shown to wet immediately after three autoclave cycles at 130ºC and
remained hydrophilic after 24-hour exposure to chemicals such as 0.1N hydrochloric acid, 0.1N
sodium hydroxide, dimethylformamide, acetone, isopropanol and 40ºC water. 

“This innovation can reduce up to 40 percent of a customer’s cost per cartridge,” said Chris
Keller, senior product manager, GE Energy Services. “There’s no longer a need to pre-wet the
membrane to flow water across it. End users will receive a membrane that can hold up during liquid
microfiltration even after exposure to steam autoclave cycles, certain corrosive chemicals and
other severe conditions. The new membrane also helps reduce the environmental impact of the alcohol
waste stream.”

“This is an exciting breakthrough,” said Bill Laidlaw, global product manager, filtration, GE
Power & Water. “We have always had to pre-wet just to test the cartridge, but now, if we can
ship it dry, we’ll have a product that’s better for our customers and for us.”

February 15, 2011

Israel-based Avgol Nonwoven Industries — a manufacturer and supplier of nonwoven fabrics for baby
diapers and hygiene products — will invest $35 million to expand its Mocksville, N.C., facility,
with the expectation of adding 42 jobs. The company will add a fourth production line to the plant,
which currently has three state-of-the-art 4.2-meter Reicofil 3 SMS lines that represent more than
50 percent of Avgol’s total global production capacity. Avgol established its North Carolina
operations in 2001 and currently employs 132 people at the facility.

In addition to the Mocksville plant, Avgol has manufacturing operations in Israel, China and
Russia. The company recently announced plans to acquire Wayne, Pa.-based Cleaver Associates Inc.,
its exclusive distributor in North America and a nonexclusive distributor in other territories
(See ”
Avgol
To Acquire Cleaver Associates,” www.
TextileWorld.com, Jan. 4, 2011).

“Our strategy is to continue to grow our business in our largest market here in the USA,”
said Ronnie Batchler, COO, Avgol Nonwoven Industries. “Our customers continue to challenge us for
more unique and innovative products that are cost effective. We have been able to meet those
challenges over the past ten years. This has hastened our growth in Mocksville.”

February 15, 2011

TÜV Rheinland Group — a Germany-based independent certification, testing and assessment agency — is
opening a laboratory in Bentonville, Ark., that will offer testing and certification services for
mainstream consumer products — primarily toys and children’s products and softlines including
apparel, costumes, upholstery and soft home furnishings. The lab also will offer testing of
consumer products for chemical content such as lead, cadmium, heavy metals, phthalates, nickel
release and flame-retardant content, as well as for compliance with Restriction of Hazardous
Substances (RoHS) and Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH),
among other regulations; testing for green compliance; and testing of products such as cosmetics,
jewelry, pet products, and decorative and seasonal items. The Bentonville facility, scheduled to
open March 2, will be TÜV Rheinland’s first North American laboratory for these market segments.

“TÜV Rheinland has more than 130 years of experience in providing testing and certification
services for organizations worldwide for a broad range of products and market segments, however
this new lab provides customized services and support specifically designed for our North American
clients,” said Cheryl Rieser, business development director. “The new Bentonville lab gives our
clients local support, expertise, services and solutions they need to deliver high quality, safe
products to their customers, which is critical in today’s competitive and highly regulated
environment.”

“We are extremely excited about the broad range of testing services we can now conduct here
in the US laboratory, and the sophistication of the equipment with which we can execute them,” said
Wolfgang Kruschak, vice president, Softlines. “We offer state-of-the-art equipment that will allow
us to do things better and faster than ever before, providing a higher level of service that
differentiates us from competitors. For example, our new technology enables us to provide accurate
analysis for lead and cadmium content in seconds, without damaging the product whatsoever. This
minimizes the number of product samples required to perform the analysis and also eliminates
unnecessary destruction and disposal of products. This provides an invaluable service to our
customers, as it reduces both the cost and time to ensure compliance with CPSIA and other safety
regulations mandated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, as well as individual US states and
other countries including Europe and Canada.”

February 15, 2011