As part of its strategy to focus its businesses more closely on its customers,
Germany-based BASF AG will restructure its businesses into six segments: Chemicals, Performance
Products, Plastics, Agricultural Solutions, Functional Solutions, and Oil & Gas.

The Performance Products segment will consist of the new Care Chemicals division — a
combination of the former Fine Chemicals division with the Performance Chemicals division’s
detergents and cleaners business — and the Acrylics & Dispersions, and Performance Chemicals
divisions.

The Plastics segment will consist of Styrenics, Performance Polymers and
Polyurethanes. The Chemicals segment will comprise Inorganics, Petrochemicals and
Intermediates.

The new Functional Solutions segment will consist of Catalysts, Construction
Chemicals and Coatings, while the Agricultural Solutions segment will contain Crop Protection. The
Oil & Gas segment will comprise Oil and Gas.

The restructuring, effective January 1, 2008, will enable BASF to bring products and
solutions to market faster, creating increased potential for value-added growth, according to Dr.
Jürgen Hambrecht, chairman of BASF’s Board of Executive Directors. He added that investors will be
able to better assess BASF because smaller businesses will be combined within the new
segments.

December 11, 2007

Effective Jan. 1 2008, or as contracts allow, Celanese Corp., Dallas, will increase
the price in Europe of all polyvinyl acetate homopolymer, vinyl acetate co-polymer, acrylic,
styrene-acrylic and vinyl-acrylic emulsions by 100 euros per metric ton.

December 11, 2007

Omniflex LLC has added Natural Elements™ odor-control technology to its line of
Transport® waterproof-breathable films. Developed by joint venture partner Etcetera LLC, the new
technology now enables fabric laminators, and designers and manufacturers of apparel and footwear
to produce waterproof-breathable, bacteria-, mildew- and mold-killing textile composites using a
single film lamination rather than the two-layer film lamination used in competitive
methods.

The new films — made from polyurethane, co-polyester and ether-amide polymers — are
suitable for apparel and footwear applications that require high levels of stretch and recovery,
and moisture-vapor transmission; good drape; and durability to washing.

Natural Elements additives, which include silver, copper, blends of the two, and
proprietary non-metallic additives, may be incorporated into films, adhesive systems, fabric
surface treatments and yarns. The technology can be customized to fit a specific application’s
odor-control needs in order to provide slow to fast activation, short to long durability or a
combination of both in one film layer.

December 11, 2007

VeriVide
Ltd. — a developer and manufacturer of highly specialized viewing assessment equipment — has
appointed England-based James H. Heal & Co. Ltd. — a producer and supplier of fabric and
colorfastness testing instruments — as the Preferred Global Distributor of its DigiEye non-contact
digital imaging system.

DigiEye depicts color and appearance of 2-D and 3-D objects in a controlled lighting
environment via its ability to select and extract color data from any pixel in the high-resolution
image, enabling measurement of extremely small or irregularly shaped samples. It is used in a
number of industries including fabrics, apparel and flooring.

December 11, 2007

The US/Peru free trade agreement (FTA) has received final congressional approval with a December 3
Senate vote of 77 to 18, following House approval in November by a vote of 285 to 132. The pact,
which gives Peru permanent duty-free access to the US market, enjoyed the support of US textile
manufacturers and importers of textiles and apparel. It won the support of the US textile industry,
because it has a rule of origin requiring that apparel enjoying the duty-free treatment will have
to contain yarn and fabric made in the participating countries. The agreement is seen as an
opportunity for new markets for US fabric in apparel that could displace apparel imports from Asia
and the Far East.

As the measure cleared the Senate, Kevin Burke, president and CEO of the American Apparel &
Footwear Association, praised its passage as an important step toward encouraging trade with the
other Andean nations like Panama and Colombia. He said an “unprecedented coalition” of
representatives from the entire US textile and apparel supply chain — from cotton to consumers —
supported the agreement.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) said the agreement will promote economic growth in both the
United States and Peru, and will increase job opportunities for US workers whose jobs depend on the
$7.4 billion in current trade between the two nations. NRF also said it will promote “ democratic
stability” and aid in the war on narcotics.

US Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab took advantage of the strong bipartisan support for the
agreement to make a pitch for Congress to approve FTAs with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Those
agreements, however, face considerable opposition and are unlikely to be acted upon this year.

December 4, 2007

China’s agreement with the US government to eliminate some of its subsidies affecting trade with
the United States could have some impact on textile and apparel trade, but it is not being viewed
as any major breakthrough. In February of this year, the US government filed a case with the World
Trade Organization (WTO) charging that a number of China’s “pervasive subsidies” are illegal under
WTO rules. As a result of the agreement, the United States will drop its case, providing the
Chinese demonstrate they are living up to their commitment.

The agreement received a decidedly mixed reaction in Washington. US Trade Representative
Susan C. Schwab said that the agreement is “concrete and welcome,” although many challenges still
remain. “I am very pleased that we have been able to sign an agreement with China that should lead
to full elimination of prohibited subsidies, and this agreement also demonstrates that two great
trading nations can work together to settle disputes in their mutual benefit,” she said.

Schwab noted the agreement is designed to settle a WTO case the United States and Mexico
initiated in February of this year. The United States had alleged that China was maintaining
several subsidy programs prohibited under WTO rules and that these programs were providing
significant benefits across a broad spectrum of industries in China. Although details of the
agreement have not been released, it is possible it could affect some of the subsidies used by
Chinese textile and apparel manufacturers.

Schwab said that if for any reason China fails to live up to terms of the agreement, the
United States has the right to restart the proceedings with the WTO.

While the agreement was welcomed by US textile manufacturers, the general feeling is that it
does not go far enough in solving subsidy problems, and it is viewed with some skepticism.
Importers, on the other hand, feel it could result in price increases for US consumers.

The United States Business and Industry Council, which represents some 1,500 small
manufacturers, blasted the agreement, charging that it is “utterly useless.” Council President
Kevin L. Kearns said the agreement fails to address the single-biggest problem — China’s
undervalued currency — and it fails to address the secrecy of the Chinese government’s policies. “
The Chinese are masters of the subsidy shell game, taking away with one hand and giving with the
other,” Kearns said, adding that “Chinese bureaucrats can pull these switcheroos much faster than
the US officials or businessmen can identify them.”

Cass Johnson, president of the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), had a much
more temperate reaction, saying that while the agreement could be a step in the right direction,
much more needs to be done. “It’s like peeling an onion,” he said, “and this is just one layer.”
Johnson said a much more damaging subsidy is the undervaluation of China’s currency. In recent
testimony before the US International Trade Commission, NCTO cited 73 subsidies the Chinese
government uses to help its manufacturing industries.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who is sponsoring legislation designed to address the
Chinese currency problem, said the action is a “small step on the long road toward playing more
fairly in global trade.”

December 4, 2007

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy has circulated to member nations a
draft text of rules he would like to see govern the use of anti-dumping and countervailing
proceedings, setting the stage for a major debate over the trade remedies. Lamy said the proposed
texts are “ambitious and balanced” and will enable negotiators to work on a set of rules in the
coming weeks. US textile manufacturers, importers and the US government immediately started
analyzing the texts to determine what impact they might have.

Officials of the US Department of Commerce and US Trade Representative’s office issued a
statement saying that while they appreciate the fact that WTO negotiators are addressing the
issues, they are “very disappointed with important aspects of the draft text.” They said that as
negotiations move forward, they will be “fully committed to preserving the strength and
effectiveness of US trade remedy laws.”

Questions surrounding the use of anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws already have
become hot issues in Congress and with US textile manufacturers and importers. Textile
manufacturers want to clarify and strengthen their ability to use the trade remedies, particularly
against state-run economies such as China and Vietnam. In particular, they would like to see
currency manipulation defined as an unfair trade practice that would be subject to countervailing
duties. Retailers and other importers are opposed to what they see as abuses of anti-dumping and
countervailing duty mechanisms.

Eric Autor, vice-president and international trade counsel for the National Retail
Federation, said: “Anti-dumping and countervailing duty measures clearly have their place in a
rules-based trading system. But we need to address unfair and abusive use of these measures that
have an adverse impact on US companies by undermining hard-won gains in access to foreign markets,
hurting their international competitiveness and ultimately harming American jobs, particularly in
manufacturing and agriculture.”

Because this is such a contentious issue, a consensus will be extremely difficult to reach.



December 4, 2007