The Hosiery Association (THA), Charlotte, and title sponsor Groz-Beckert USA, Fort Mill, S.C., will
hold the 4th Annual Legwear Industry Golf Tournament on Wednesday, October 15 at the Bermuda Run
Country Club in Bermuda Run, N.C.

The tournament’s proceeds will benefit NoColdFeet™, a charity created by THA that donates
underwear and legwear to non-profit service organizations. THA recently announced that this year,
NoColdFeet will partner with Working Wardrobes, a non-profit organization that supplies its clients
with career counseling and business attire suitable for interviews.

Albany, N.Y.-based Primaloft, Hickory, N.C.-based Fiber & Yarn Products Inc. and
Greensboro, N.C.-based Unifi Inc. also are sponsoring the event.

To register, or to learn more about the NoColdFeet program, visit
www.HosieryAssociation.com.

September 23, 2008

Israel-based OptiTex Ltd. — a developer of 2-D and 3-D CAD/CAM solutions for sewn products and
related industries — has added Color Manager to its OptiTex™ 3-D Runway Designer software.
According to the company, the Color Manager software system simplifies color scheme selection for
both individual garments and entire collections, allowing designers to have more control over their
collections.

“We have always maintained a commitment to provide designers with the latest features to
enhance the design process,” said Ran Machtinger, president and CEO, OptiTex. “Now, our new Color
Manager will appear any time a user clicks on a color control, providing an extended set of tools
that promote both creativity and collaboration.”

Color Manager comprises three main sections: Color Pickers and Color Spaces, which supports
four-color spaces; Harmonious Color Schemes, for monochromatic color work; and the Color Banks
section, which provides creating, editing and color scheme storage functions and enables designers
to collaborate with one another as well as communicate with other graphic software. With this new
system, designers can select and change colors in real time and instantly see the results.

“The design of our 3-D Runway system is the natural outgrowth of our philosophy about
facilitating collaboration, ensuring that all players in the production process are on the same
page,” Machtinger said. “In the end, it’s all about an efficient, streamlined process that results
in remarkable, beautiful designs.”

September 23, 2008

The polyester staple fiber (PSF) market is experiencing some changes, with the exit of one
established supplier and the announcement by another supplier that it will maximize its production
capacity to meet market needs.

Fort Mill, S.C.-based Wellman Inc. — manufacturer of PSF under the Fortrel® brand, as well as
Wellamid® engineering resins and PermaClear polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging resins —
announced last week it will exit the PSF and engineering resins businesses and consolidate its PET
resins business as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of this year. The moves
involve the shutdown of the company’s PSF and PET resin manufacturing operations at its plant in
Darlington, S.C., and engineering resins operations at its Johnsonville, S.C., plant; and the
consolidation of the PET resins business at its Pearl River facility in Bay St. Louis, Miss.
Wellman also will close its administrative offices in Fort Mill and move those operations to Pearl
River. Nearly 800 employees in South Carolina will be impacted by the closures. Assets from the
discontinued businesses will be liquidated.

Stepping in to fill the void, Charlotte-based DAK Americas LLC — a subsidiary of Mexico-based
conglomerate Alfa S.A.B. de C.V. and a manufacturer of PSF under the Dacron® Plus, Delcron®
HydroPur® and Hydrotec, and SteriPur®AM brands; as well as PET resins and terephthalic acid
monomers — has announced it will maximize PSF productivity in order to increase its own supply to
the North American market. The company’s North American manufacturing base includes facilities in
Charleston, S.C.; Wilmington, N.C.; and Mexico.

“We have additional capacity that we will be maximizing,” said Ricky Lane, corporate
communications manager, DAK Americas. “We will rebalance what we currently have running and look
for opportunities to increase that capacity.” He added that more details will become available as
assets are rebalanced and needs are assessed.

September 23, 2008

Every year, the man-made fiber industry meets in Dornbirn, Austria. The 47th Man-Made Fibers
Congress took place Sept. 17-19, 2008. The event closed with a record attendance of more than 720
visitors from 40 countries. Experts from all around the world gathered to exchange information and
knowledge. This congress is known to be the first address for new developments in the entire
man-made fiber industry.

In the last 10 years, the congress moved away from being a high-ranking meeting of scientists
with papers, which most of the attending people didn’t understand. This has changed a lot over
recent years. The organizing body, the Austrian Man-Made Fibers Institute (www.dornbirn-mfc.com) is putting more emphasis on
practical topics.

Cradle-To-Grave Products

The main topics this year were new fiber developments, sportswear, safety technical textiles,
nonwovens and new research projects. However, the overwhelming subject was sustainability, with the
focus on cradle-to-grave products. What does that mean? It means that more than ever, future
products must be developed under a complete rethinking.

For example, man-made fibers have in most cases, compared to natural fibers, a favorable
environmental balance sheet. Also, the man-made fiber industry is facing the same problems as any
other industry. One thing is for sure, just to pass the buck to the next one in line is definitely
not the ultimate solution. However, everybody should be aware that these three issues — exploding
raw material prices, energy prices and climate change — are closely linked and interact with one
another.

Obviously, the time in which relatively inexpensive natural resources are available is over.
The need for raw materials on the part of the high-growth economies of China and India is in
contrast to a raw material supply industry that has been stagnating for decades.

The price of energy has become more volatile than ever in the last 12 months. In spite of the
day-to-day fluctuations between $100 and $140 per barrel for oil, it is more important to know that
this oil price rose from the “traditional” $10 to $20 dollars a barrel up to, let’s say, $100.

It was amazing to see that the man-made fiber industry worries about climate change too. I
don’t care what the reasons are, as long as we all care about it. It can be even emotional, just
like Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth.” It is so emotional because climate change directly and
personally affects each and every one of us.



Interacting Factors

US economist and United Nations advisor Jeffrey A. Sachs describes in his book, “Common
Wealth – Economics for a Crowded Planet,” the interaction of factors such as population growth,
climate and environmental protection, and poverty in various regions of the world.

What does this mean for the companies? Just like for any country, economic success, social
acceptance and political stability are intimately linked to the sustainable economic management of
a company. The debate about climate change has led all big companies to reconsider their policies.
Today, most of the industries know the term “carbon footprint.” Companies that already have
experience with the issue of sustainability have a competitive edge. They work with one of the most
promising issues of the future for the textile industry: recycling.

Don’t Waste Your Waste

Many lecturers in Dornbirn said they are forced to significantly increase the share of
recycled raw materials in the manufacturing process, particularly oil-based polymers. In many parts
of Europe, other industry sectors are working very successfully with recycled material — paper and
glass, for example. The overall share for recycled paper is Europe is 55 percent and for glass 62,
percent. Switzerland is recycling 99 percent of its used glass, and even in this so-called “
expensive” country, the glass industry is very successful. Examples in the man-made fiber industry
include the recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles into fiber. But it is not only
the raw material; it’s also less energy consumption and less air pollution. Again, to be “green”
pays off.

Ultimately, the awareness of consumers will play a decisive role. An increasing number of
companies are already reacting to the growing demand for eco-labels. And to survive as a company in
the ever-so-competitive world is also an act of sustainability.

Any comment is always welcome at
jrupp@textileworld.com.

September 23, 2008

Freudenberg Nonwovens, a Germany-based nonwoven materials manufacturer with operations in 13
countries worldwide, has announced plans to close its staple fiber manufacturing operations in
Durham, N.C., effective the end of March 2009. The company will transfer products currently
manufactured in Durham on two base lines and two print-sets to other facilities or discontinue
them. The closure will affect 60 employees. Freudenberg’s Spunlaid Division in Durham will remain
in operation; as will the company’s facility in Hopkinsville, Ky., which includes manufacturing
operations for its Filtration Division and Freudenberg Vitech LP.

“The business with staple fiber nonwovens has suffered financial hardship due to the
economic slowdowns in the three largest markets of home industrial, mattress and wipes,” said John
McNabb, general manager and vice president, Industrial Nonwovens Division. “This adjustment of
production capacity is necessary to bring our capability in line with current market demand. We
will focus on serving our key customer base with a local sales force, supplying Freudenberg
material from other facilities.”



September 23, 2008

Cary, N.C.-based [TC]
² — a provider of technology development and supply chain improvement solutions for the
apparel, sewn products and related soft goods industries — has released a Human Avatar Engine (HAE)
for computerized applications that use human models.

Because [TC]
² created the HAE using a statistical sampling of more than 10,800 previously scanned
human subjects, it is not necessary to scan every individual user. The engine can be accessed from
any location. The supply of 3-D scan data comes from [TC]
²’s SizeUSA human sizing project of the US population, which includes data from people
of varying heights, weights and ethnicities from ages 18 to 65 and older. The user simply enters a
small number of data points, and the engine generates an avatar that closely replicates that
person.

According to [TC]
², the HAE’s output is more realistic and human-like than parametric computer-generated
human models. It also can create avatars in any mesh density and incorporate joint rigging
locations for animation, enabling use in any online virtual world or software application that
employs human models.

September 23, 2008

France-based Calemard — a designer and manufacturer of equipment for the textile industry, and a
subsidiary of Spoolex Group — has selected Greenville-based Batson Group Inc. to market its in-line
and off-line slitting and rewinding machines in the United States and Canada.

Calemard’s technologies include crush, shear and razor slitting systems, and sealing and
cutting technologies; and its rewinding technologies include spooling systems that, according to
the company, allow rewinding of 10 times more product than on a pancake roll. Calemard recently
began converting technical textiles for the filtration market and personal hygiene wipes industry.
In addition, the company manufactures a complete stock preparation solution for the tire industry.

September 23, 2008

Frankfurt-based Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH is accepting proposals for lectures to be given at
the next Techtextil-Symposium and/or Avantex-Symposium, both of which will be held June 17-19,
2009, in conjunction with the Techtextil International Trade Fair for Technical Textiles and
Nonwovens taking place in Frankfurt June 16-18, 2009.

The symposiums offer manufacturers and users the opportunity to learn about and discuss
innovations, new developments and application areas on an interdisciplinary basis. A program
committee of experts from the sectors concerned with be selecting the lectures.

Messe Frankfurt suggests the following be considered when submitting lecture proposals: the
subject should be new and interesting for users; the lecture should be aimed at a broad audience;
new approaches and ideas are welcomed and not required to be fully developed; it’s best to have an
abundance of illustrations; all lectures will be translated simultaneously into German and English;
and lectures should last 25 minutes, including a brief discussion at the end.

For more information about the Techtextil- and Avantex-Symposiums, visit
http://techtextil.messefrankfurt.com. To submit
a lecture proposal, register at
www.techtextil2009.abstract-management.de
and follow the instructions. All proposals must be submitted in English by Oct. 31, 2008.

September 23, 2008

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued new rules covering
requests for duty-free treatment of apparel under the Commercial Availability Provision, (also
known as short supply) in the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

CAFTA-DR provides a list of fabrics, yarns and fibers that the parties to the agreement have
determined are not available in commercial quantities in a timely manner from suppliers in the
United States or other participating countries. In those cases, components from non-participating
countries may be used in apparel, and the end product will be eligible for duty-free treatment.

Under the FTA, which covers textile trade between the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, CITA has authority to establish procedures for
submitting requests and for determining whether additional fabrics, yarns or fibers are in fact not
available in commercial quantities.

The intent of the procedures is to foster the use of US and  CAFTA-DR products, but at
the same time improve procedures for seeking exemptions.  In its notice, CITA said that, based
on experience in implementing the previous procedures, it was concerned that due diligence efforts
have fallen short of what was expected when the procedures were originally adopted. It  said
that in the past, product descriptions may not have met recognized standards, that potential
suppliers may not be adequately substantiating their claims and that CITA had not been receiving
complete information.

Short supply has been a contentious issue with US textile and apparel importers and
manufacturers. Mike Hubbard, vice president of the National Council of Textile Organizations, sees
some improvements in the revised procedures, including the area of reasonable product
specifications, a better definition of due diligence, a more specific requirement for domestic
manufacturers to show they can make a product without disclosing business confidential information,
and other areas. He believes CITA has gone to great lengths to protect the interests of both
importers and domestic manufacturers.

The full text of the rules is available on the Office of Textiles and Apparel website:
http://otexa.ita.doc.gov.



September 16, 2008

As the US Department of Commerce issued trade data covering the first six months of this year,
industry lobbyists in Washington called for the US government to take action with respect to trade
with China, which has accounted for more than half of this year’s cumulative deficit of $220
billion. They also called on the presidential candidates to take a stand on China trade and tell
the American public what they intend to do about it.

Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition,
which includes textile manufacturers, said, “The fact that a single country now accounts for more
than half of the US trade deficit in manufactured goods should be sounding alarm bells for the
presidential candidates and the Congress.” He charged that China is “brazenly cheating” in its
efforts to seize its share of the US market by using currency manipulation, rebates of value-added
taxes and other subsidies.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab saw the trade data in a different light as she
pointed to what she called the “vitality of US exports in the global economy.” She said that goods
and services exports during the first seven months of this year were 18.3-percent higher that in
the same period of 2007.

“The United States remains a global leader in manufacturing, services and agriculture, and
our products and services are extremely competitive in the global marketplace,” Schwab said, adding
that “month after month the trade data has confirmed that our exports are thriving in markets
around the world.”

Schwab used the trade data to make a renewed appeal for Congress to approve the Colombia,
Panama and South Korean Free Trade Agreements that the administration has already negotiated. She
said that when these three agreements are approved and implemented, nearly all tariffs and other
trade barriers on American goods and services exports will be eliminated in those markets. She also
said increased trade with those countries will help grow the US economy and create higher-paying
jobs and expanded choices for consumers.



September 16, 2008