Effective June 1, or as contracts allow, The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., will raise prices of
its acrylic acid and esters (acrylates) worldwide, and of its oxygenated solvents products in North
America.

The increases are as follows for glacial acrylic acid, butyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, methyl
acrylate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate: 5 cents per pound in North America; US$120 per metric ton in
Asia Pacific, Middle East/Africa and Latin America; and 90 euros per metric ton in Europe.

List and off-list price increases for oxygenated solvents vary from 3 cents to 5 cents per
pound, depending on the product.

May 15, 2007

Minneapolis-based uniform supplier G&K Services Inc. has introduced antimicrobial-charged
garments and towels that feature Spartanburg-based Milliken & Company’s BioSmart antimicrobial
technology that binds chlorine to fabric surfaces. The new products are part of G&Ks ProSura
Food Safety Solutions program, developed to reduce cross-contamination in the food industry, and
are targeted to grocers, food processors and restaurants.

According to G&K, independent testing of the technology has shown that BioSmart fabrics
laundered with chlorine bleach according to care instructions kill 99.9 percent of common bacteria
and viruses including staphylococcus aureus, hepatitis A, e-coli and salmonella cholerasuis and the
chlorine on the fabric will continue to kill these microbes after laundering. The fabrics also do
not irritate the skin and have passed the ISO skin sensitivity and skin irritation tests, the
company reports.

“BioSmart is both durable and effective for the life of most garments,” said Travis Greer,
senior business development technologist, Workwear Fabrics, Milliken. “The fabric technology
literally recharges after every washing so it is always functioning at full strength, thus
providing a longer shelf life and optimizing value for the food service industry, laundries and
consumers alike.”

May 15, 2007

Hanesbrands Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., has announced plans to shut down three sewing and
assembly facilities in Itabo, Dominican Republic, and consolidate those operations into
state-of-the-art, lower-cost fabric production facilities it has built in the Central
America/Dominican Republic region. Production at the three plants will cease by September,
resulting in the loss of approximately 1,400 jobs.

“We are fully engaged in our global supply chain strategy of doing business around the world in
lower-cost countries,” said Gerald Evans, executive vice president and chief global supply chain
officer. “We continually review how to remain most competitive in every country and region around
the world in which we operate, particularly as we begin to add operations in Asia to balance our
supply chain in the Western Hemisphere. A key opportunity for us is to operate fewer facilities
that are larger in order to most effectively utilize our assets.”

The company also operates six additional sewing and intimate apparel assembly facilities, as
well as the new Dos Rios textile manufacturing plant, in the Dominican Republic.

May 8, 2007

Effective June 1, 2007, The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., will raise prices in North America
for its TERGITOL nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactants and its CARBOWAX and CARBOWAX SENtrY
polyethylene and methoxypolyethylene glycols by 3 cents per pound. The company cited strong demand
and continuing high raw material costs as reasons for the increases.

May 8, 2007

The Fiber Society has issued a call for papers for presentation at its Fall 2007 conference,
scheduled October 9-11 at the University of California, Davis, Calif. Papers should present
original research related to fiber and fibrous material science and engineering, with major themes
including nano/smart/ biomemic/human-responsive technologies, bio-based/sustainable/green products
and processing, electronic materials, high-performance composites, functional/protective materials
and finishes, and other cutting-edge work in the field.

The submission deadline for proposals is June 1, 2007. For more information, visit
www.thefibersociety.org.

May 8, 2007

Ahlstrom Corp., a Finland-based manufacturer of high-performance fiber-based materials, has signed
a memorandum of understanding with Mundra Special Economic Zone in Gujarat, India, to purchase 5
hectares of land in the Textile and Apparel Park. The company plans to begin production of
fiber-based materials at that location to supply its FiberComposites business units customers in
export and domestic markets.

May 8, 2007

Tolland, Conn.-based Gerber Technology has established a wholly-foreign-owned enterprise in Hanoi,
Vietnam, and plans to open a service location in Da Nang and a branch office in Ho Chi Minh City.

The branch office will include an Advanced Technology Centre equipped with Gerber’s
computer-aided design systems with plotters as well as its multi-ply cutting systems and automated
spreading systems. As the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, the center will serve as a facility
for product demonstration, system testing and training for the centers customers, engineers and
students. Gerber Technology also will offer service to apparel and related industrial companies in
Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

“There is a tremendous opportunity for companies in Vietnam to improve quality and expand
their production capabilities by investing more in automation,” said James S. Arthurs, president,
Asia-Pacific, Gerber Scientific Inc. “We already have over 150 customers using more than 500
systems in Vietnam, which we have sold through our distributor, Schmidt Vietnam Co. Ltd., since
first appointing them in 1994. And we are delighted that the management and staff responsible for
our operations for the last 12 to 13 years have agreed to join Gerber. This will ensure the
continuity of our customer relationships.”

May 8, 2007

Paris-based C-Design a developer of software solutions for the apparel industry, recently partnered
with Ottawa-based Corel Corp. a developer of productivity, graphics and digital media software to
introduce C-DESIGN Fashion®, a computer-aided design (CAD) software solution for the fashion
industry.

“We recognize that designers in the highly competitive fashion industry are under constant
pressure to take their designs from the concept sketch to the retail store more quickly than ever,”
said Patrick Abbou, CEO, C-Design. “The C-Design Fashion solution is created to meet this need
head-on, providing a one-stop software package that streamlines the fashion design process, making
fashion houses more efficient and ultimately more profitable.”

The new software built on the CorelDRAW® graphics engine and available in French, English and
Spanish supports bitmap and vector graphics formats; and offers a database of more than 18,000
existing garments, shapes and detailing for womens, mens and childrens fashions. Using C-Design
Fashion, pattern makers and designers are able to design garments and accessories by quickly adding
fabrics, colors, prints and special effects.

Technical packs included in the software enable communication to suppliers of information
such as size specifications, labeling and sewing instructions, and measurement boards.

May 8, 2007