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

A bipartisan group of House and Senate members has introduced legislation designed to offset the
competitive advantage of countries that undervalue their currencies. The legislation, which has 40
co-sponsors, is one of the top priorities of US textile and apparel manufacturers as well as a wide
range of other manufacturing industries.

The Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (CRFTA) would allow injured US manufacturing
industries to seek offsetting duties under countervailing duty or anti-dumping laws. Sponsors of
the legislation say it will not violate World Trade Organization (WTO) remedies that are available
to member countries. They point out that WTO rules treat currency undervaluation as a prohibited,
countervailable export subsidy.

The proposed law states that exchange rate misalignment occurs when a foreign government
engages in protracted, large-scale intervention in the exchange markets, with the result that its
currency is undervalued or overvalued on an inflation-adjusted, trade-weighted basis by at least 5
percent over an 18-month period.

 “China continues to illegally subsidize products by a third of the costs by
manipulating their currency to undercut American goods,” said Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., one of the
measure’s initial sponsors. “The time has come for Congress to stand up for American workers and
not allow China to run roughshod over the American economy. With this legislation we will finally
force China to stop cheating and level the playing field for America’s manufacturers.”

The legislation was launched at a Capitol Hill news conference sponsored by the Fair Currency
Coalition, which includes the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC), the National
Council of Textile Organizations, the National Textile Association,  the US Industrial Fabrics
Institute (USIFI) and the American Cotton Shippers Association. It also is heavily weighted with
labor organizations including the American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial
Organizations.

Speaking at the news conference,  Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, said: “This is one of the most
broad-based coalitions I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. Democrats and Republicans,
manufacturers and labor, and representatives from all over the country have come together on this
common-sense legislation, which only asks countries to live up to the standards they agreed to when
they joined the WTO.”

Auggie Tantillo, executive director of AMTAC, said the Obama administration has said it
stands for fair trade, and that “there is no better way to prove that they actually mean what they
say than to enact the currency reform legislation.”

Noting that the US technical textile community has “borne the brunt of currency exploitation
for some time, with a disastrous effect on employment,” Ruth Stephens, executive director of USIFI,
strongly endorsed the legislation, saying, “This effort will help our world have ethical and
logical currency principles.”

May 19, 2009