France-based Rieter Nonwovens Systems – a manufacturer of machinery for nonwovens production –
reports it recently sold a complete spunlace line to China-based Zhejiang Shaoxing County Zhuangjie
Nonwovens Co. Ltd. – a producer of spunlace fabrics for the hygiene market. It is expected the
manufacturing line will come on-line during the third quarter 2009. The line, sold in collaboration
with France-based NSC nonwoven, features NSC cards for web forming and Rieter’s JETlace Advantage
for hydroentangling the web. The line can produce fabrics ranging from 30 to 100 grams per square
meter, and has a capacity of up to 5,000 tons per year.

June 2, 2009

A delegation of Chinese textile standards officials – including Fang Xijiang, director of the
Standardization Institute of the China Textile Academy, and his colleagues studying US and Western
standards used in textile and apparel manufacturing – recently visited the Rock Hill, S.C.-based
North American headquarters and technology center of SDL Atlas – a provider of textile testing
equipment, supplies, consumables and services.

“During the SDL Atlas visit, the emphasis was on reviewing our broad line of standard
consumable fabrics used in textile testing and our wide range of special services we routinely
provide to our textile clients,” said Robert Lattie, SDL Atlas director, product management, and
chair of the ANSI accredited TAG to TC38 for Textiles. According to Lattie, China is becoming an
important market for SDL Atlas, but current textile manufacturing standards differ greatly between
China and the United States.

Other facilities included on the tour included Cary, N.C.-based Cotton Incorporated;
Sanford, N.C.-based Frontier Spinning Mills Inc.; North Carolina State University’s College of
Textiles, Raleigh, N.C.; the Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based American Association of Textile
Chemists and Colorists Research Committee sessions on standards; ASTM International’s headquarters
in West Conshohocken, Pa.; and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission in Bethesda, Md.

June 2, 2009

Spartanburg-based Milliken & Company has signed a letter of intent to sell its Automotive Body
Cloth division to a management group led by Dirk Pieper and Brian McSharry, with support from
Greenville-based investment firm Azalea Capital LLC. The new company, to be called Autotex, will be
based in South Carolina. An Azalea principal, Jim Micali, who formerly was president and chairman
of Greenville-based Michelin North America Inc., will serve as chairman. The sale is expected to be
complete July 10, 2009.

Milliken stated the sale is in line with its strategy to focus on other existing and emerging
growth markets. Approximately 1,200 associates in the division’s worldwide operation are impacted
by the sale. Of those, more than 1,000 will transfer to Autotex.

Included in the sale are Gayley Plant, Marietta, S.C.; Abbeville Plant, Abbeville, S.C.;
Cotton Blossom Plant, Spartanburg; Avalon Plant, Toccoa, Ga.; Autotex Plant, Brazil; and support
operations in the United Kingdom, Japan and China. Sharon Plant near Abbeville will close,
impacting 140 associates.

In other news, Milliken will terminate 80 management associates worldwide in other company
businesses as a result of recent consolidations unrelated to the Automotive Body Cloth division
sale.

May 26, 2009

Miami-based CMI Enterprises, a supplier of coated fabrics for healthcare, institutional, contract
furniture and transportation applications, has supplied vinyl fabrics containing its
nanotechnology-based Nanocide® Antimicrobial to upholster three fitness centers at Scranton,
Pa.-based Lackawanna College: one for students, one for athletes and one for alumni.

CMI uses nanotechnology to permanently embed performance benefits into its vinyl fabrics. The
Nanocide Antimicrobial finish – which is patented for use with leather, vinyl, thermoplastic
polyolefins and other such materials – contains pure silver particles measuring 4 to 6 nanometers,
which have been shown to kill 99.9 percent of resistant staphylococcus viruses, including
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, on contact within minutes, according to CMI. Mike
Jobe, the company’s vice president, sales/marketing, said the nanoscale size of the particles not
only provides faster killing of pathogens than do other silver-based antimicrobial technologies,
but also doesn’t affect the color of the fabric.

Nanocide Antimicrobial is featured in CMI’s line of Dimensions™ coated upholstery and bedding
fabrics. It can also be used in conjunction with the company’s Nano-Block Technology™ in its NBT™
Marine vinyl upholstery – which offers easy removal of stains from ballpoint pens, permanent
markers and various foods; a barrier with an active self-renewing agent to kill mildew and fungus;
and an ultraviolet (UV) inhibitor that more than doubles the colorfastness and durability to UV
exposure compared with conventional finishes. Jobe added that Nanocide also can be applied to
uncoated fabrics.

May 26, 2009

Switzerland-based specialty chemicals provider Clariant has acquired XL Performance Chemicals – a
manufacturer and supplier of defoamers, antifoams, silicone fluids and emulsions, esters and
surfactants – from Dalton, Ga.-based Fibro Chem LLC and its affiliates. The acquisition follows
Clariant’s recent commencement of an exclusive strategic alliance to serve the $2-billion-plus
global foam-control market.

Foam-control products, defoamers and anti-foam agents remove or manage trapped air, bubbles
and foam that can cause manufacturing, process and performance problems in end-products. XL
Performance Chemicals has developed more than 100 foam-control products in markets served globally
by Clariant, including textiles, metal-working, paints and coatings, mining, oil services, crop
protection, construction and paper.

“At some point in virtually every manufacturing process – our own included – foam is
created,” said Hugh Fowler, North American head of Functional Chemicals, Clariant. “Eliminating
this foam or bubbles from such products as paints or cements is essential for these products to
perform optimally as designed. With the addition of the XL D-Foam-RTM products to our own extensive
range, we can offer our customers an even better comprehensive end-to-end service-oriented solution
to their foam-control challenges.”

Clariant will manufacture the defoaming products at a Greenville-based plant that operates
under a toll agreement. As the business grows, the company may transfer production to its own
plants located worldwide.

May 29, 2009

Switzerland-based Huntsman Textile Effects — a manufacturer of chemicals and dyes for finished
textiles and materials, and a division of Huntsman International LLC – has developed a more
economical fixing agent called Erional® FRN. According to the company, Erional FRN is highly stable
under acidic conditions; improves the wetfastness properties of polyamides, wool and their blends;
is suitable for dyeing bright shades; and offers improved reproducibility and trouble-free
production.

Huntsman also reports the product exhibits excellent post-setting stability and leveling
effects on blends, as well as enhanced wetfastness without affecting lightfastness.

May 26, 2009

FiberVisions A/S – a supplier of polyolefin fibers to a variety of industries including textile,
hygiene and automotive with locations in Denmark, Duluth, Ga., and China – and Argentina-based Tel
Rad Cuyo (TRC) — a manufacturer of polypropylene fibers with a plant in the San Juan province of
Argentina — have formed a joint venture (JV) company in South America for the production, sales
and marketing of polypropylene fibers. As part of the deal,  FiberVisions purchased 50 percent
of TRC, which will be known going forward as FiberVisions South America.

“We are extremely pleased to be a partner with TRC, a leading and well-respected company in
South America,” said Dr. Stephen Wood, CEO, FiberVisions. “This joint venture will provide
FiberVisions with quality local manufacturing assets and product development capability enabling us
to provide even better service to our current customers in the region.”

“We believe that the venture with FiberVisions will give our customers access to the best
technology and the highest quality fibers,” said Dr. Guillermo Kraves, president, TRC. “South
America is a high-growth region of the world, and we will be investing to support that demand.”

May 26, 2009