Advanced Textile Solutions Inc. — a manufacturer of custom-sewn fabric products for military,
automotive, aerospace and marine applications; and a sister company of Walkertown, N.C.-based
American Technical Solutions Inc. — has announced it will invest $500,000 over the next three
years to open a plant in Sawmills, N.C., creating 127 jobs in the process. The Caldwell County
facility will make military apparel and gear as well as products for commercial aircraft seating.
The investment was funded in part by the One North Carolina fund, which offers financial assistance
to businesses through local governments to draw business projects to the state to boost economic
activity and create jobs.

“North Carolina is strongly committed to the aerospace and military sectors and remains very
attractive to companies seeking the ideal location to serve those strategically key markets,” said
Gov. Beverly Eaves Perdue. “Our state’s skilled workforce, custom training programs and top-rated
business climate create the perfect platform for businesses to succeed, grow and create new jobs
and investment.”

The company reports the average annual wage for new employees will be $19,111, not including
benefits.

May 25, 2010

The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich., has announced it will exit its Dow Fiber Solutions (DFS)
business and shut down production of DOW XLA™ stretch fiber over the next six to 18 months. The
company stated that the action is in line with its strategy to streamline and focus its business
portfolio, and follows a determination that DFS could not compete with its other performance
businesses for further investment and expansion.

Dow launched DFS and its core Dow XLA fiber technology in 2002. Apparel featuring the
olefin-based soft stretch fiber began appearing in retail markets in 2004, and the company had
continued into this year to market the technology and partner with apparel brands to feature XLA.
The fiber withstands extreme chemicals and temperatures up to 220°C as well as harsh dyeing,
bleaching, mercerizing and garment-washing conditions; and is compatible with both natural and
man-made fibers.

“We will take every reasonable step to minimize any disruption to our customers’ business and
to support their final product supply requirements as they plan to transition their current
business with XLA to suitable alternative materials,” said Rebecca Bentley, senior public affairs
leader, financial communications & media relations, Dow.

DFS’s XLA production facility, located in Tarragona, Spain, will continue to fill customers’
current and final orders for the fiber. After final shut-down of the XLA operation, the facility
will be considered for an alternative use within Dow. In the meantime, Dow also will be exploring
future alternatives for the business.



May 25, 2010

CLOVER, S.C. — May 24, 2010 — The Synthetic Yarn and Fiber Association (SYFA) held its 2010
Spring Conference on April  20 & 21 at the Sheraton in Charlotte. Attendance filled the
meeting room and all those who did attend will agree that it was a very well spent 2 days. The
conference agenda covered virtually all the key items that impact everyone’s business today.
Presentations covered Energy, Credit, Legislation, Raw Materials, Sustainability, Innovation,
Military Markets, Automotive  Challenges, and Design Issues. I challenge anyone to have been
to a conference that has covered such a relevant scope of topics – and all presented in 11 papers
in an afternoon and a morning session!

There was so much information presented that it is difficult to summarize in a brief format –
but we will try:

Kevin Leahy, M.D. of Climate Policy with Duke Energy discussed the proposals to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions through the Clean Air Act (CAA) which comes into force January 2011. He
outlined an effort by Lindsay Graham to develop a policy that would not cripple US competitiveness
while respecting the need for us to move away from foreign oil. US spending on overseas oil is now
$700 billion and our dependency has more than doubled since the 1980s. Duke clearly sees a need for
fuel diversity with coal and nuclear playing a major role in developing energy independence.
Kevin  discussed the possibility of a border tax on products from countries that do not have a
climate  policy.

Mike Hubbard of NCTO presented a clear review of the Trade Issues before congress including
the Trans Pacific Partnership which could bring Vietnam into a free trade agreement with the USA.
The Haiti bill is strongly focused on apparel and cuts across many of the structured initiatives
contained in NAFTA/CAFTA  legislation so could have negative implications for US 
textiles.

Kristin Dettoni of True Textiles discussed issues influencing design of fabrics for
upholstery and automotive end uses presenting correlations between the chaos of the recession of
2009 and the calmer colors that are prevalent in 2010. Her analysis provided new insights for many
of us into how color and texture can influence feelings.

Alasdair Carmichael presented the PCI Fibres view on raw materials and fiber supply and
demand dynamics and how they might influence pricing going  forward. If you did not attend,
you probably do not know that 91% of polyester fiber is produced in Asia!

Dina Dunn, General Manager of Blink, gave a fascinating review of why, and how, a sustainable
approach to textiles is necessary. Did you know that in 1942 the global population was 2.4 billion
and in 2022 (80 years) it is forecast to be 8.5 billion?  Dina provided clear definitions of a
sustainable textile  industry. SYFA has been a leader in developing  sustainable
awareness and always strives to have some  sustainable presentation in our programs.

Kerry Pumphrey is a lead automotive designer with Guilford Performance Textiles. She
presented a very current view of the issues that are driving consumer decisions and how designers
are reacting to them. All geared around the automobile or transportation systems for the future.

The program on Wednesday was due to start with a presentation by Mark Vitner, the Chief
Economist of Wells Fargo – however the volcanic ash cloud meant that Mark was still stuck in Paris.
Fortunately, his stand in Adam York proved to be an admirable replacement and provided us with a
very clear and well researched Economic Outlook. The impact of the recession was demonstrated using
a number of different metrics and the forecasts generally showed a reasonable level of recovery in
2010. The main exception to this is in the continuing high level of unemployment.

John Wilson of Quantum provided a view of the company and the flexibility and versatility in
the range of polymers that they extrude for subsequent fabric formation. He identified a wide range
of performance polymers with the key features of each and the major  applications – a very
useful reference chart. The  Quantum product range goes from artificial turf to office seating
fabrics to filtration and many in between.

Hills, Inc. is well known as a producer of specialized, technically advanced extrusion
equipment. Timothy Robson as Business Development Manager gave attendees a very complete review of
the global markets where Hills concentrates – Multicomponent filament  extrusion, Bicomponent
spunbond and melt blown production lines.

Dan Pezold is Senior V-P of Duro Textiles, specializing in the military and government fabric
markets. Duro offers a line of finishes, coatings, and  prints for commercial, military, and
industrial fabrics.  With a number of years experience in supplying the  military
machine, Dan was able to provide an invaluable insight into dealing with the Department of Defense.
The  changes in demand created by the rapidly changing theaters of battle present both great
challenges and also great opportunities, and the lessons learned by Duro were shared with
attendees.

The program ended with John Viera – the Director of Sustainability and Environmental Policy
for Ford Motor Company. John was a speaker at the SYFA 2008 Sustainable is Attainable conference
and we were very grateful that he could return and update on how the dynamic trend of
sustainability has progressed during the difficult period that all auto manufacturers have 
experienced. In 2005 the Ford product portfolio was dominated by trucks and SUVs with a share of
59%, by  2011 it is forecast that this share will have fallen to 39% while crossover type
vehicles will grow from 9% to 23%. John shared policy expectations on hybrid and alternate fuel
vehicles as well as recycled  materials.

We would be very surprised if there was anyone in attendance that did not learn something of
real value and importance for their business from this conference. For those of you who were unable
to attend – you missed an excellent event.

For more information about the SYFA Annual Conference, contact Kim Pettit, +704-589-5895,
kpettit@thesyfa.org;
www.thesyfa.org.

Posted on May 25, 2010

Press Release Courtesy of the Synthetic Yarn and Fiber Association

U.S. textile manufacturers are pressing Congress to act quickly on legislation that would grant
duty suspensions to imported rayon and acrylic fibers that are not produced in the United States
but are vital to helping them remain competitive with foreign manufacturers.

Duty suspensions on those products expired at the end of last year, and Congress has not
acted to renew them. Although duty suspensions on non-competitive products have been pretty routine
in the past, a new round of suspensions has been caught up in connection with a Republican-led
effort in the House to eliminate so-called earmarks, which have come under fire as “waste, fraud
and abuse.” Earmarks are funds provided by Congress for projects and programs in congressmen’s
districts and often are added to appropriation bills at the last minute without proper
consideration.

In view of the hang-up, the House Ways and Means Committee is considering taking up duty
suspension requests in two steps — one, which they would hope to enact by the Memorial Day recess,
would extend previously approved suspensions; and a second bill would deal with requests for new
ones. It has not yet been determined whether manufacturers will be reimbursed retroactively for
duties they have been paying since the first of this year.

In a letter to the leadership of the Ways and Means Committee and its Trade Subcommittee, the
National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) and 74 companies have strongly urged Congress to
approve the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act, which would suspend the duties on
acrylic and rayon fibers.  NCTO says these are two components of  “major concern” to the
industry. The letter says prices of acrylic fibers have increased by 50 percent, and with a
6-percent duty on top of that, there is a risk that U.S. manufacturers will be shut out of the
market. The same is true for products using rayon fibers, for which there is a duty of 5 to 10
cents per pound.

“Payment of the full duty on acrylic and rayon fibers comes at a very difficult time as the
U.S. industry is facing tremendous market pressures due to the lifting of China import safeguards
in 2009 and Chinese imports have increased dramatically,” the NCTO letter says. “If our industry is
forced to absorb duties on imported rayon and acrylic fibers, many companies will be unable to
remain competitive and will be forced to exit the market for product lines that utilize those
fibers.”

NCTO adds that extension of the expired duty suspensions is “justified and necessary” and
would improve the international competitiveness of the U.S. industry.



May 18, 2010

For weeks, the Rupp Report has been following a kind of cotton war, mainly in Asian countries.
After Pakistan’s restriction on cotton, it’s now its neighbor India: For almost a month, India’s
Ministry of Textiles imposed an export stop on Indian cotton and cotton waste. India’s textile
industry was concerned about its own cotton supply and had requested this measure. An export tax of
3 percent had already been put on cotton exports for some time beforehand. According to the Indian
Export regulations, cotton exports have to be registered at the Ministry of Textiles, and only
registered amounts may be exported.

India — Second-largest Cotton Producer

India is the second-largest cotton producer worldwide. According to International Cotton
Advisory Committee (ICAC) projections for the current season, India will produce 5.1 million metric
tons (mt), an increase of 3.5 percent compared with the previous season. Indian cotton consumption
is estimated for the first time to reach 4.15 million mt, exceeding the previous season by 7.4
percent. In 2007-08, with a 1.53 million mt total, export volume was three times the volume in
2008/09 of 0.52 million mt.

According to the Bremen Cotton Exchange’s cotton report, the Indian government has now
decided to impose an embargo on the registration of export contracts prior to the shipment of raw
cotton, cotton waste and cotton carded/combed from April 19, 2010. Therefore, India for the time
being is not exporting any cotton.

Bangladesh In Deep Trouble

After a big shift of textile production to Bangladesh, that country now is having serious
problems because of the shortage of cotton. On average, Bangladesh is exporting cotton products
valued at more than $15 billion. These exports are now jeopardized because the country’s cotton
industry depends heavily on Indian cotton, with 30 percent of processed cotton originating in
India. This ban also imposes another rather socioeconomic problem: more than one million handloom
weavers also depend on cotton. If the situation doesn’t improve in a short time, they also will be
in trouble.

Pro-rata Shipments Only

However, the Indian textile commissioner will reconfirm Indian export contracts registered
before April 19. Shipments of this cotton will be allowed at monthly pro-rata limits. Although the
exact volume of permitted shipments was not given, this measure aims to preserve domestic
inventories.

The organization of international cotton associations, the Committee for International
Cooperation Between Cotton Associations, in letters sent to the responsible Indian authorities,
protested against this measure on behalf of its members, pointing out the potentially extensive
consequences. India must be well aware of this situation, which not only will jeopardize its
position as a leading cotton exporter, but may also expose its own cotton industry to the threat of
counteractive measures.

High Rank Protests

The Bremen Cotton Exchange asked the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology to
forward the issue to the European Commission in Brussels, too. The expert departments are
discussing further steps. The German Industrial Association for Finishing, Yarns, Fabrics and
Technical Textiles pointed out that India could endanger the planned free trade agreement between
the EU and India by punishing its long-time and reputable trade partners. To date, India has not
issued an official response. Also within the trade, the fulfillment of contracts has not been
reported. Furthermore, the Indian example might lead to further defaults on contracts by other
cotton-producing countries, which eventually would lead to global problems. From the yarn segment,
several violations of contracts already have been reported.



Export Ban Means High Cotton Prices

The Bremen cotton report had estimated Indian sales for the current season at 1.25 million mt
up to now. The high level of cotton prices was stimulated by the Indian export ban. The Cotlook A
price index exceeded 90 cents per pound (cents/lb) and reached the highest quotation of 92.30
cents/lb on April 26. In the Cotlook A Index of the five lowest quoted current crops for prompt
shipment, Indian cotton has been replaced by California Arizona cotton. In the future, Indian
cotton could be considered as risky, which might affect further price development for Indian
shipments. The last page of this story is not yet written.

May 18, 2010

Montreal-based Visual 2000 International Inc. — a developer of end-to-end software solutions for
apparel, footwear and accessories applications — has released version 3.10 of its VisualPLM.net®
product lifecycle management (PLM) software for fashion and softgoods retailers, brands,
manufacturers and suppliers. The updated software has advanced change management capabilities,
which, according to Vision 2000, improve system usability, increase productivity and offer time
savings to merchandising and product development teams along with their vendor partners.

Version 3.10 offers features including improved data migration tools that facilitate the
import of product information; Cost Factor Loading, which enables import of company-specific
costing factors or rules used to calculate product costs; integration of the Crystal Reports®
Engine within VisualPLM.net; Mass Update tools, which allow one or more data fields to be instantly
updated; Cross Block Cascading, which refines choices presented in drop-down lists; Multi-Level
Spec Fit, which enables users to efficiently manage different fit sessions; Grid Data Management,
which enhances users’ control over information displayed in a grid format; Tech Pack Tab
Management, which enables users to show, hide or reorder templates in a tech pack; and Collapsible
Headers and Tabs, which gives users improved visibility of working components. 

May 18, 2010

TenCate Geosynthetics North America, Pendergrass, Ga., the U.S. operation of the Netherlands-based
Royal Ten Cate’s TenCate Geosynthetics business, now offers the TenCate Mirafi® RS580i roadway
reinforcement geotextile.

The new geotextile has been highly engineered to provide base reinforcement and subgrade
stabilization coupled with high water permeability and soil retention, according to the company.
Features include double-layer construction to allow good filtration and drainage, uniform openings
to enable consistent filtration and flow comparable to a fine to coarse sand layer, and an orange
color pattern to differentiate it from traditional black geotextiles. The company reports TenCate
Mirafi RS580i also features high tensile modulus properties that enhance load distribution and
product durability including damage resistance when installed under moderate to severe stress
conditions.

“Our product development team developed the perfect geosynthetic that would maximize
performance while reducing costs for base reinforcement and subgrade stabilization applications.
They reviewed many years of research and created a unique manufacturing process that would fully
integrate the important performance properties into one geosynthetic,” said Brett Odgers, market
manager, roadway reinforcement, TenCate Geosynthetics North America.

The company is making the new product available through its distribution partners in a range
of roll sizes. Panels also may be seamed either in the factory or in the field to give cross-roll
direction strength to the installed geotextile.

May 18, 2010

Indonesia-based PT. South Pacific Viscose (SPV), a subsidiary of Austria-based cellulosic fiber
producer Lenzing AG, has commissioned its fourth viscose fiber production line. The line represents
a US$150 million investment, Lenzing’s largest recent single investment project and part of an
overall investment of $500 million in SPV, and adds 60,000 metric tons of production capacity for
textile and nonwoven applications. SPV now has an annual production capacity of 220,000 metric tons
and is the largest viscose fiber production facility in Asia and the second-largest such facility
within Lenzing’s global operations.

As part of the investment, SPV also added a state-of-the-art 21-megawatt power station
equipped with a multi-fuel fluidized boiler and attached steam turbine, a 300-metric ton-daily
capacity sulfuric acid plant, a carbon disulfide recovery plant, and process- and wastewater
facilities. Lenzing reports these improvements have brought SPV into compliance with the latest
environmental standards. In addition, SPV has initiated a debottlenecking program to increase
annual production capacity to 238,000 metric tons.

“Indonesia and the whole of Asia are Lenzing’s single most important sales market. The
extension of PT. South Pacific Viscose … marks our commitment to our customers in this part of
the world,” said Peter Untersperger, chairman of Lenzing’s Management Board. He added that once all
of Lenzing’s current investment projects are completed in 2012, about half of the group’s projected
total fiber production capacity, or 378,000 metric tons, will be located in Asia. In the longer
term, Lenzing plans to have an overall capacity of one million metric tons and projects more than
half of that will be located in Asia.

SPV is one of the biggest employers in the region, having a workforce of 1,656 employees, and
also provides financial support to schools, child and health care facilities in its community.

May 18, 2010

Montreal-based Dorel Industries Inc. — a manufacturer of juvenile and bicycle products and home
furnishings — has opened its new Apparel Footwear Group Division (AFG) facility in British
Columbia. The company invested $3 million to renovate a 70,000-square-foot complex, which now
houses AFG’s manufacturing and distribution operations as well as the company’s global design and
marketing headquarters. The AFG division comprises the Sugoi, Cannondale, GT, Schwinn, Iron Horse
and Mongoose brands and is part of Dorel’s Recreational/Leisure segment.

“This facility will allow AFG to increase its custom apparel capacity and offer highly
competitive lead times,” said Martin Schwartz, president and CEO, Dorel. “We’ve barely scratched
the surface in this expanding market and we expect AFG to triple its custom apparel business within
five years.”

“The opportunity to significantly upgrade our AFG operations with a new and improved facility
is positioning the entire division for global growth,” says Chris Fuentes, president, AFG. “By
investing in state-of-the-art technology such as digital printing and high speed precision
sublimation, we expect to create an important speed to market advantage.”

May 18, 2010

The Sheep Venture Co. (SVC) — a wholly owned for-profit company operated by the Englewood,
Colo.-based American Sheep Industry Association — has received a loan from the National Livestock
Producers Association’s Sheep Loan Fund Committee for the purchase of a continuous wool-top
chlorine/polymer treatment equipment line that will modify fiber in wool products, enabling them to
be machine-washed and dried without shrinking and meet “Total Easy Care” consumer standards. The
manufacturing line will be used to process both military and commercial wool products.

More than 2 million pounds of wool for commercial markets currently are shrink-treated in
foreign countries. “Currently, this wool shrink-treatment process is only available overseas, which
increases costs, delivery times and eligibility for military wool products,” said Margaret Soulen
Hinson, president, SVC. “Of concern is that our domestic mills are less competitive without this
process and it will prohibit the use of washable wool products by the military, which is American
wool’s largest domestic customer.” The Berry Amendment stipulates that products purchased by the
U.S. Department of Defense must be of U.S. origin whenever possible.

Hinson stated that the process not only will help establish new business but also will remove
the risk of losing current military knitwear business because a dependable shrink-treatment process
has not been available in the United States. “Domestically processing U.S. wool from sheep to
garment will lead to increased demand for U.S. wool products, which in turn will increase domestic
demand for our wool.”

The new line, to be installed at Jamestown, S.C.-based Chargeurs Wool USA Inc., will enable
companies to apply the washable treatment to U.S. wool products. The equipment is scheduled to
arrive this fall and will be installed and commissioned sometime early winter. SVC expects the line
to be in full production by the beginning of 2011.



May 18, 2010