South Korea-based intarsia sweater knitting machinery producer MBI Technology Co. Ltd. has launched
its MBI-S1342 intarsia machine providing up to 42 color changes in a single course. According to
the company, the new machine uses the world’s first circular type and circular knitting machine
structure for the mass production of knits.

The 25.1-inch-diameter machine features a needle cylinder that rotates reciprocally back and
forth, allowing for the knitting of complex intarsia patterns; a standard gauge of 13, with stitch
cam adjustable from 12 to 14; and 42 feeders for intarsia and 2 feeders for rib. Fabric body and
rib borders can be knitted simultaneously. The Windows®-based Easy Graphic Design System enables
designers to store their designs and load them on the machine through its USB port; and also
enables small-batch production of those designs.

“We are hearing a lot of positive feedback about our new MBI-S1342 from the market research
and prospects, especially in European and Asian sweater manufacturing industry,” said Denny Y. D.
Koo, vice president, MBI Technology.

July 29, 2008

The India-based Tuka Academy of Pattern Engineering (T.A.P.E.) has announced it will offer a 3-D
design and prototyping curriculum for pattern engineering students, becoming the first apparel
institute in the world to offer such a program as a career option. Tukatech Inc. — a Los
Angeles-based provider of product development solutions for the apparel industry — founded T.A.P.E.
in 2006 to offer training in pattern-making in response to the increasing demand for the skill in
India.

T.A.P.E.’s new curriculum incorporates theory and hands-on practical knowledge, with
instruction on developing sample patterns, adding grading, and making markers using Tukatech’s
TUKAcad software. Students learn how to design a pattern and drape the garment on a virtual model
using Tukatech’s e-fit Simulator software. The curriculum also includes conversational English to
help students to communicate in the global apparel industry.

Because of the rising demand for better-fitting garments and quicker turnaround, apparel
manufacturers have recently begun to adopt 3-D prototyping and design for garment manufacturing to
reduce costs and increase quality. Two such Tirupur, India-based manufacturers — Poppy’s Knit Wear
Pvt. Ltd. and S.P. Apparels Ltd. — have replaced their existing computer-aided-design (CAD) systems
with TUKAcad digital pattern-making, grading and marker-making systems. The companies also have
installed SMARTmark and Net-Q, Tukatech’s advanced marker-making software.

Poppy’s manufactures knitted and woven garments for clients including Sara Lee Underwear,
Polo Ralph Lauren, Hanes, Domino’s, Red Devil Clothing, and other apparel makers. According to
Tukatech, Poppy’s has seen a 27-percent increase in cutting room production efficiency and has
saved more than 10 percent on fabric consumption since installing the Tukatech systems.

S.P. Apparels manufactures apparel for clients including George, Tesco and Disney. According
to S.P. Apparels, using Tukatech’s SMARTmark software has helped the company reduce consumption,
connect its factories, and save fabric.

July 29, 2008

Effective September 1, or as contracts allow, Wacker Polymers — a division of Germany-based Wacker
Chemie AG — will implement price increases of up to 40 euros per ton in Europe for its Airflex®,
Vinac®, Flexbond® and Flexcryl® dispersions. The aforementioned dispersions are used in an array of
applications from adhesives, nonwovens, paints and coatings to building products, paper, carpet and
textiles. The company cited marked increases in transport, packaging, energy and raw material costs
in announcing the increases.

July 29, 2008

Around the globe, one trend has been obvious over the past few years: Everybody wants more
quality, and, at least, for less money. This is especially the case for textile products, such as
apparel. Today, most of the commodities are still made with cotton, or in blends with an important
amount of cotton. And as everybody knows, high-quality textile products can only be manufactured
with high-quality cotton.

Egyptian Cotton

So, the race is on. According to the Bremen Cotton Exchange, the production of high-quality
cotton will shrink in the future. Egyptian extra-fine cotton production is projected to drop by 38
percent in 2008-09 to 141,000 tons. This would be the lowest production level in more than a
century. This production drop is driven by a fall in planted cotton area because of the lower
extra-fine cotton prices received in 2007-08 and competition with food crops. Production of
extra-long-staple cotton is expected to fall by more than half to 19,000 tons, while production of
long-staple cotton is projected down by one-third to 122,000 tons. As a result of lower production
in Egypt, both consumption and exports of extra-fine cotton are expected to decline.

Pima Cotton

Production of Pima cotton in the United States is also forecast significantly down in
2008-09 to 109,000 tons, due to limited irrigation water resources and competition from alternative
crops. US exports could drop to 117,000 tons as a result. Production in Xinjiang, China, is also
expected to decline by 18 percent to 125,000 tons, as a portion of extra-fine cotton acreage could
switch to upland cotton or other crops. In spite of large beginning stocks, Chinese imports of
extra-fine cotton could remain significant in 2008-09, as consumption of extra-fine cotton in
Mainland China is expected to remain stable.

Lowest World Production Since 2001

Overall, world extra-fine cotton production is expected to decrease by 27 percent to 548,000
tons in 2008-09. This would be the lowest production level since 2000-01, when world production
reached 528,000 tons. Consumption of extra-fine cotton in producing countries is forecast slightly
down in 2008-09 to 481,000 tons, whereas exports of extra-fine cotton are forecast down by 32
percent to 270,000 tons. In producing countries, extra-fine cotton production and imports combined
are projected lower than total use, consisting of mill use plus exports. As a result, ending stocks
in producing countries are expected to decline by 22 percent to 223,000 tons in 2008-09.

It will be very interesting to see how the markets will react in the near future to this trend.
It means most likely another rise of raw material prices, especially for cotton. No wonder
investments in man-made fiber plants are increasing. However, rising oil prices are also pushing up
the price for this raw material. For decades, the textile industry has been the first segment of
the global economy to be hit by market problems. But also for decades, the textile industry has
been used to being very flexible and clever to solve these problems. May the forthcoming ITMA Asia
+ CITME 2008 be the first step to finding solutions for today’s challenging market.

July 22, 2008

Four trade associations whose members import the majority of textiles and apparel into the
United States have written to the leadership of the House of Representatives Appropriations
Committee expressing their “very strong opposition” to language in a report dealing with
appropriations for the Department of Commerce (DOC) that calls for continuation of the DOC’s
monitoring of Vietnam textile and apparel imports and expanding the program to include China.

The report contains language directing the DOC’s International Trade Administration to undertake
monitoring of apparel imports, including socks, focusing on prices of imports from China and
Vietnam and the question of whether their state-run industries are illegally pricing products and
dumping them into the United States.

The importers’ associations claim it is wrong and harmful to the US economy for Congress to
single out apparel made in Vietnam or China. In part, the letter said; “We are concerned that this
is primarily intended to chill and micromanage trade by encouraging the movement of sourcing to
other countries with no apparent gain to the United States.”

The importers contend there is no basis for conducting monitoring and price analyses targeted at
selected apparel products from a few countries but not for all other imports.

The letter points out that during the 18 months when Vietnam imports have been monitored, there
has been no evidence of dumping, and not a single apparel company has claimed injury from Vietnam
imports. It contends the monitoring program, initiated in response to demands from textile-state
lawmakers, is an attempt to circumvent anti-dumping laws that require petitioners to have standing
by launching de facto investigations without formal initiation of an investigation.

The letter says that two Bush administration reviews have found no evidence of dumping, and the
program should not have been started in the first place.

“While the Vietnam monitoring program imposed additional costs on US companies by forcing them
to reconsider sourcing plans and divert orders to other suppliers, it did not bring a single order
or job to the United States,” the letter concludes. It was signed by officials of the American
Apparel and Footwear Association, the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders
Association and the US Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel.

July 22, 2008

Federal Way, Wash.-based forest products company Weyerhaeuser Co. and Austria-based Lenzing
Group have partnered to develop new lyocell-based nonwoven fabrics.

The companies plan to devise a technology for the large-scale industrial manufacturing of a
sustainable cellulose-based material that can be used in industrial and personal-care applications.
These renewable, wood-fiber-based raw materials new technology will offer an alternative to
petroleum-based materials used in nonwoven goods. The product will stem from lyocell technology, in
which a cellulose solution is processed directly into a nonwoven fabric without the need for
process steps in between.

Both companies will bring expertise in renewable fibers: Lenzing is the sole commercial global
supplier of lyocell fibers, offered under the Tencel® brand; and Weyerhaeuser has introduced
several cellulose-based products including Peach™ and Pearl™ pulp for lyocell and viscose rayon
production, respectively.

July 22, 2008

Fort Mill, S.C.-based Wellman Inc. has announced that it will implement 4 cents-per-pound price
increases on all Fortrel® polyester staple fiber products, effective with Aug. 17, 2008, shipments.
The company cited continued escalating energy and raw material costs in announcing the
increase.

July 22, 2008

A recent Cotton USA Special Trade Mission (STM) from Vietnam brought 11 textile mill executives
and officials from Vietnamese government and textile agencies to the United States to tour the
Cotton Belt and meet with US industry officials. Washington-based Cotton Council International
sponsored the tour, which included briefings by officials from US industry organizations, CCI and
the Memphis, Tenn.-based National Cotton Council; a seminar with the ICE Futures US, the US futures
trading arm of Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange® (ICE); and tours of a farm, gin, warehouse,
merchandising enterprise, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) classing office and Cotton
Incorporated’s Cary, N.C.-based world headquarters and research facilities.

Vietnamese companies represented by executives on the tour consume 260,000 bales of cotton, of
which US cotton accounts for more than half of total sales, and the country is considered to be a
significant growth market for cotton fiber sales, according to CCI. The tour immediately generated
sales of 2,540 metric tons of US cotton, valued at $6.7 million, to Vietnamese textile mills, with
additional orders anticipated. In the week following the STM, US Upland cotton sales to Vietnam
represented approximately half of total export sales, a significant increase over the 3.5-percent
average export sales since the beginning of the marketing year, reported the USDA’s Foreign
Agricultural Service in the June 26, 2008, US Export Sales Report.

“Our members have witnessed and gained full understanding of cotton production, ginning,
classification, merchandising, risk management, options, etc. in the US,” said Vu Duc Giang, vice
chairman, Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, and general manager, Vietnam Textile and Garment
Group. “We were also impressed by the efficient and effective structure, operation and cooperation
of all organizations within the cotton industry. All of these have contributed to the ‘No. 1
product’ status of the US cotton in global market.”

The Cotton USA STM was funded in part by the USDA’s Market Access Program.

July 22, 2008