Portland, Ore.-based Pendleton Woolen Mills is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The family-owned
company opened its first woolen mill in Pendleton, Ore., in 1909, and since then has woven hundreds
of thousands of Indian trade blankets, purchased mainly by American Indians. The sixth-generation
of the Bishop family manages the company today, which still weaves fabric and specialty woolens for
home and apparel collections at its own US mills.

The company launched its “Weaving America’s Spirit Since 1909” celebration at the site of its
original mill, where it hosted a rededication and announced upcoming celebrations and the
introduction of commemorative apparel and home collections for Fall 2009.

February 17, 2009

Miami-based Finotex USA Corp. – a producer and supplier of printed labels and heat-transfer and
digital thermal printing solutions – has opened its new production facility in Honduras. Finos
Textiles de Centroamerica S.A. is located in Choloma, in a two-story, 120,000-square-foot facility.

“This expansion was absolutely necessary as the demand for our products and services have
increased remarkably ever since the company started operations in the country in October of 2002,”
said a company spokesperson.

February 17, 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 completed primary
changes associated with a previously announced reorganization designed to realize annual cost
savings of $60 million
(See ”
Huntsman
Textile Effects Business Adopts New Structure,” December 2, 2008).

In an effort to become a global company with a larger footprint in Asia while improving
customer relationships and service quality, Huntsman has created a new sales and customer support
organization in Asia, which now is the largest in the Textile Effects division. Elements of Textile
Effects’ Research and Technology (R&T) capabilities have been moved to a site in Panyu, China,
and newly created positions at that site have been filled.

Huntsman is expanding its R&T services in India, and the company reports the expansion is
progressing well, with the Mumbai team expected to be in place by the end of the second quarter.

The company also is in the process of moving its global headquarters and management team to
Asia, and expects to release details related to location and timing shortly. At the same time,
Textile Effects also is consolidating sales offices and laboratories in many countries.

“We are pleased with the rapid progress we have made toward making this business profitable
and sustainable in the long term,” said Paul Hulme, president, Huntsman Textile Effects. “With our
new organization in place, we intend to move rapidly on completing the remaining elements of our
plan.”

In related cost-cutting measures, Huntsman will stop production at the end of February at its
largest production facility in Basel, Switzerland, for up to seven weeks. During the shutdown,
approximately 450 of the 1,300 employees will work part-time.

February 17, 2009

Effective March 1, Charlotte-based DAK Americas LLC – a producer of polyester staple fibers (PSFs),
polyethylene terephthalate resins and terephthalic acid monomers wholly owned by Mexico-based Alfa
S.A.B. de C.V. – will implement a 6-cent-per-pound price increase on all of its PSF products. The
company cited the rising cost of paraxylene, a raw material feedstock used to manufacture PSFs, in
announcing the increase.

February 17, 2009

Finland-based Ahlstrom Corp.’s Disruptor nanoalumina fiber and nonwoven water filter media received
the 2009 Visionary Award, presented at the VISION 2009 Consumer Products Conference held last month
in New Orleans and organized by the Cary, N.C.-based Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry
(INDA). The annual Visionary Award recognizes innovative consumer end-products that incorporate
nonwoven fabrics or use nonwoven technology during the manufacturing process.

The Disruptor – a nonwoven, wet-laid filter media constructed using nanoalumina fiber
technology – is used by companies that manufacture water purification products such as tap, spa and
shower filters; pre-filters; home reverse-osmosis filters, water pitchers and water coolers. The
product was one of five finalists chosen from products nominated late last year.

“The depth and breadth of the five Visionary Award finalists at VISION 2009 illustrate just
how important the marriage of nonwovens and consumer products has become,” said Rory Holmes,
president, INDA. “The Disruptor filtration demonstration was quite compelling and showed just how
effective the technology is for removing particles as well as color contaminants from drinking
water.”

The four other finalists include: Menifee, Calif.-based Back Enterprises LLC’s Germy Wormy
sanitary sleeve; Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark Corp.’s GoodNites sleep boxer for boys and sleep
shorts for girls; Chula Vista, Calif.-based Rotano International LLC’s Nooby’s disposable dog
booties; and Richmond, Va.-based WearOnce.com and Tredegar Consumer Designs Inc.’s Once Single-Use
Panty.

February 17, 2009

The economic stimulus bill passed by the Senate has a “Buy American” provision covering iron and
steel and other manufactured products used in construction, but does not include the specific
textile measure passed by the House.

The Senate version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 mandates that iron
and steel and manufactured goods purchased for public works projects funded by the act be made in
the United States unless an international obligation would require that bidding be open to foreign
manufacturers. Textile products could be included in the category of “other manufactured goods.”
The Senate version of the bill does not include anything similar to the Kissell amendment,
sponsored in the House of Representatives by Rep. Larry Kissell, D-N.C. That amendment would expand
the “Buy American” requirements in the so-called Berry Amendment covering Department of Defense
(DoD) purchases of uniforms and other textile products to cover Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) procurement. The Kissell amendment specifically covers uniforms purchased by the
Transportation Security Administration, but it could be expanded through negotiations with other
countries to include other agencies such as Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. DHS reportedly is opposing the
Kissell amendment.

Saying inclusion of the Kissell amendment in the final legislation is essential because of
its job-producing potential, Cass Johnson, president of the National Council of Textile
Organizations, noted that the amendment simply adopts a procurement system that has been in effect
for the DoD for more than 60 years, and it already includes the Coast Guard. He urged Congress to
ignore what he called “disingenuous outcries” that the bill is protectionist and to include “Buy
American” in the interest of creating jobs in a way that will not require any additional
expenditure of taxpayer money.

The fate of that measure and the other “Buy American” provisions will have to be hashed out
in a House-Senate conference committee.



February 10, 2009

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), with its headquarters in Zurich,
Switzerland, is one of the oldest nongovernmental organizations. It was founded in 1904 at a
meeting held in Zurich and convened on the initiative of the British cotton-spinning industry.
That’s why it still has a very close relationship with the whole cotton industry. ITMF is probably
the most important and high-ranking textile association around the world. Members are associations
and other constituted organizations of textile manufacturers.

Textile World
and its sister magazines have reported on various occasions about ITMF.

The next big event will be in June 2009 on the occasion of the International Year of Natural
Fibres, declared by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly at the request of the UN’s Food and
Agriculture Organization.

Important Statistics

ITMF is dedicated to keeping its worldwide membership constantly informed through surveys,
studies and publications; and through the organization of annual conferences, participation in the
evolution of the industry’s value chain and publication of considered opinions on future trends and
international developments.

Recently, it released the 2008 edition of its biennial International Production Cost
Comparison. It is said to be the only consolidated source for benchmarking yarn and fabric
production costs prevailing in eight of the world’s most important textile manufacturing countries
– Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Italy, Korea, Turkey and the United States.

Different Cost Factors For Different Sectors

The textile industry segments analyzed are spinning, texturing, weaving and knitting.
Individual results are supplied for ring-spun, open-end (OE) and textured yarns, and for fabrics
woven and knitted from each of these yarn types.

In the different segments analyzed, the lowest production costs are achieved in different
countries. Total costs in ring-spinning are the lowest in India, closely followed by Turkey. In
rotor-spinning, the lowest total costs are recorded in the United States, followed by Turkey and
India.

In texturing, Korea realizes the lowest total costs, followed by India. For weaving, the
total costs of fabrics made of ring-spun yarn are similarly low in India, China, Egypt, Brazil,
Turkey and Korea. Fabrics made of rotor yarns can be produced at the lowest costs in Brazil, India
and Turkey. The production of fabrics knitted using ring-spun yarn can be realized at lowest costs
in India, followed by Turkey, whereas the lowest total costs of fabrics knitted using rotor or OE
yarn can be achieved in the United States, followed by Turkey.

The report highlights the changing cost structure in the primary textile industry by tracing
the impact of cost factors borne by manufacturers and presenting them on a standardized basis. This
allows the reader to readily compare elements of total manufacturing costs across representative
production facilities.

Detailed Breakdown

The presentation of manufacturing and total yarn and fabric costs incorporates a detailed
breakdown into the various cost components per kilogram of yarn and per meter of fabric, presenting
their relative importance in the countries under review.

The study incorporates a wide range of influences on the cost picture, from externally
determined factors like raw material and machinery prices to the local costs of labor, capital,
energy and other inputs to production.

For more information, visit
www.itmf.org.

February 10, 2009

Germany-based BASF SE has announced it will be restructuring so it can focus on customer
industries. The initiatives include measures to further develop its Performance Products segment,
such as establishing a new Paper Chemicals division, and a review of strategic options for its
leather and textile chemicals business. BASF also is preparing to integrate Ciba businesses
following the acquisition of Switzerland-based specialty chemicals manufacturer Ciba Holding AG.

“With these initial steps, we are very clearly focusing our business on the needs of our
customers and markets and sharpening the profile of the segment’s divisions,” said Dr. John
Feldman, member of the Board of Executive Directors, Performance Products segment. “At the same
time, we are creating the conditions that we need to integrate the new Ciba businesses rapidly and
efficiently in the next step. After closing, we will develop the detailed organization for the
combined businesses with our new divisions together with colleagues from Ciba.”

The Paper Chemicals division will comprise BASF’s paper chemicals and binders and kaolin
minerals businesses, presently part of the Acrylics & Dispersions division. The Acrylics &
Dispersions division will be renamed Dispersions & Pigments, which will incorporate BASF’s raw
materials business for the coating and paint industry. The acrylics business will be moved to the
Petrochemicals division, and the superabsorbants business will become part of the Care Chemicals
division. Most of Ciba’s Coating Effects business will be incorporated into the Dispersions &
Pigments division following the discovery phase.

BASF’s leather and textiles business, part of the Performance Chemicals division, recently
has experienced low market growth and high competitive pressure. “Our employees have worked hard to
improve the business in recent years,” said Hans W. Reiners, head of Performance Chemicals. “In
view of the difficult market situation, the results are not sufficient to ensure long-term success
with our own means.” Consequently, the business unit has launched further efforts to increase
efficiency, with the expectation of reducing costs by 25 million euros by 2011. In addition, BASF
is considering future strategic options including forming a joint venture or selling the business.

Initial organizational changes will be effective April 1, 2009, and the integration of Ciba
into BASF is expected to begin in the second half of 2009.

February 10, 2009