Nilit Purchases INVISTA Facility, Nylon Product

Israel-based nylon producer Nilit
Ltd. recently purchased INVISTA’s nylon apparel fiber facility in Oestringen, Germany, and nylon
apparel fiber from Invista’s plant in Gloucester, England, for an undisclosed price. The deal
closed at the end of February, according to Donna Hill, sales and marketing manager, Nilit America
Corp.

Nilit will obtain the exclusive license in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for the
trademarks Tactel®, Cordura® and Supplex® under the deal. Invista will continue operating the
Gloucester facility, selling produced goods through Nilit.

“The combination of Invista’s apparel fiber production, including its premier brands, with
Nilit’s innovative Sensil® specialty polyamide yarns, customized polymers, unique spinning
techniques, innovation and history of long-term relationships is very promising,” said Michael
Levi, chairman, Nilit.

William Ghitis, president of Apparel, Invista, added that the agreement allows Invista to
reinforce its European position and focus on its Lycra® brand in that market.


March/April 2006

Possehl To Acquire A Monforts Textilmaschinen

Germany-based L. Possehl & Co.
mbH, a conglomerate of medium-sized companies, has announced it will acquire Germany-based
finishing and coating textile machinery manufacturer A. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co KG
from the Monforts von Hobe family. A. Monforts Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG will not be a
part of the sale.

Monforts Textilmaschinen, which has 375 employees and annual sales of approximately 110
million euros, will continue to be headquartered in Mönchengladbach. Possehl also intends to
continue Hong Kong-based Monforts Fong’s Textile Machinery Co. Ltd. — Monforts’ joint venture with
Hong Kong-based Fong’s Industries Co. Ltd.

“As an independent business division, Monforts Textilmaschinen group can maintain its own
identity and has the opportunity to strengthen its market position and to further develop the
company successfully in the long run,” said Uwe Luders, CEO, Possehl.

The companies expect the acquisition, which is subject to approval from the relevant
antitrust authority, will be effective as of April 1, 2006.

February 28, 2006

Paragon Offers Mobile, Dust- And Water-Resistant Printer

Cleveland-based Paragon Data Systems
has added Vernon Hills, Ill.-based Zebra Technologies Corp.’s RW 420 mobile printer to its offering
of data collection solutions. The RW 420 prints bar codes, text and graphics at a resolution of 203
dots per inch.

The printer meets IP54 dust- and water-resistance ratings and may be vehicle mounted,
allowing customers to print wherever needed, even in harsh conditions, Paragon reports. Users can
configure the RW 420 for wireless connectivity, and to work with mag stripe card readers and other
accessories.

February 28, 2006

AAPN Announces 2006 Regional Meeting In Nicaragua

The Atlanta-based American Apparel
Producers’ Network and other regional and US apparel and textile organizations will host this year’s
regional supply chain meeting in Managua, Nicaragua, June 5-7.

According to Mike Todaro, managing director, AAPN, the meeting’s format will be similar to
that of last year’s meeting in El Salvador. For more information, contact Sue Strickland at
sue@appnetwork.net.

February 28, 2006

Customs Enforcement Being Stepped Up

The US Customs and Border Protections Service (CBP) appears to be making progress with steps to
combat illegal imports of textiles and apparel. CBP recently hired 45 more people to strengthen its
enforcement efforts, and it reported it recently has seized and denied entry to $17 million in
illegal textile products. Janet Labuda, director of the Textile Enforcement and Operating Division,
says the CBP is using “all available means — trade pattern analysis, on-site verifications, review
of production records, audits and laboratory analysis — to enforce US trade laws.”

In a recent meeting with Washington-based National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO)
representatives, CBP officials said they are using textile production verifications teams to visit
foreign factories in order to review and verify that apparel being shipped to the United States is
actually produced in those facilities. The teams reportedly are uncovering hundreds of violations
and sources for illegal transshipments.

US textile manufacturers have been increasingly concerned about illegal textile
transshipments in view of the removal of import quotas from countries except China, and a bilateral
agreement limiting imports from China. They feel lack enforcement could result in illegal
transshipments of Chinese goods.

Missy Branson, senior vice-president of NCTO, said NCTO is working with the CBP and members
of Congress on a continuing basis to ensure better enforcement. 

February 28, 2006

[TC]2 Installs Stork Sapphire Printer In Demo Center

Cary, N.C.-based Textile/Clothing
Technology Corp. ([TC]2) has added a Sapphire II digital printer from The Netherlands-based Stork
Digital Imaging B.V. to its Demonstration Center. [TC]2 plans to use the printer in digital
printing demonstrations and production of InkDrop Boutique products.

The printer is suitable for high-quality sampling and production runs, and printing on
difficult media such as stretch fabrics, as well as on a wide range of man-made and natural
fabrics, according to Stork.

“We welcome the addition of this technology, and Stork as an associate member of [TC]2,”
said Jud Early, vice president and chief technology officer. “We look forward to working closely
with the Stork team to broaden the understanding and adoption of digital printing technology for
custom products.”


February 28, 2006

Ciba To Sell Textile Effects Unit

Switzerland-based Ciba Specialty
Chemicals Inc. has signed an agreement with Salt Lake City-based chemical group Huntsman Corp.
whereby Ciba will sell its Textile Effects business for 332 million Swiss francs in cash and
assumed debt.

The Textile Effects sale, which has
an expected closing date in the third quarter of this year, was necessary because the unit’s number
of customers and products, local presence in many countries and supply chain structure differed
from Ciba’s other segments, requiring another operational structure, according to Armin Meyer,
board chairman and CEO, Ciba. The decision to sell the business, which had sales of 1.3 billion
Swiss francs in 2005, came after Ciba’s board evaluated different solutions to provide a
sustainable future for Textile Effects and strengthen the company overall, Meyer explained.

“The divestment supports the strategic intention of the Board of Directors to focus on the
core businesses — Plastic Additives, Coating Effects and Water & Paper Treatment, strengthening
and expanding the company’s overall position,” Meyer said. “This includes expanding our leadership
in the plastics and coatings industries as well as further developing our position in the area of
water treatment and paper chemicals, with a strong focus on improving the profitability in Water
& Paper Treatment.”

As part of the sale, the 3,300 employees of Textile Effects and 900 supporting staff will
transfer to Huntsman, which acquired Vantico Group S.A., Ciba’s former Performance Polymers
division, in 2003.


February 21, 2006

Polymer Group Inc. Announces New Corporate Headquarters In Charlotte Region

[NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.] — Polymer
Group, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: POLGA/POLGB), one of the world’s leading producers of engineered
materials, today announced it will establish a new corporate headquarters in the Charlotte, N.C.
region, to better serve its customers and accommodate future growth of the business.

The new headquarters will bring together the company’s senior leadership, finance,
purchasing, human resources, sales, customer service and other administrative functions, currently
located in several locations in the U.S., into one central site with approximately 100 employees.

The relocation from the current headquarters in North Charleston, S.C., is planned to take
place by August, 2006. About a dozen executive management positions have been based at the North
Charleston site since 2003. Additionally, employees will be relocated from sites in Dayton, N.J.
and Mooresville and Raleigh, N.C.

The move puts PGI in closer proximity to its Mooresville, N.C., manufacturing site, where
the company is in the process of a $40 million expansion. The plant expansion is expected to be
completed by the middle of this year and will add approximately 50 jobs in the North Carolina area,
in addition to the positions being relocated from the headquarters consolidation.

“This relocation is very much in line with our plans for deliberate growth and expansion,
and makes perfect sense for the business,” said James Schaeffer, PGI’s chief executive officer. “
Bringing together these different disciplines under one roof will foster even greater collaboration
and cooperation across the company, and also puts us closer to our manufacturing operations and
customers. In addition, it will improve our efficiencies and provide us with the infrastructure we
need to continue to grow our business.”

Press release courtesy of Polymer Group, Inc.

February 21, 2006

Andritz, Küsters Develop Joint Venture

Austria-based Andritz AG and Germany-based Jagenberg AG, which took complete ownership of the
shares of Eduard Küsters Maschinenfabrik Gmbh & Co. KG in August 2005, have created Küsters
Technologie GmbH & Co. KG — a joint venture in Küsters’ paper and nonwovens industries. The new
enterprise will employ approximately 500 employees and have an annual turnover of 70 million to 80
million euros, the companies reported.

Jens Kellersmann, public relations representative for Eduard Küsters, said the joint venture
would be renamed Andritz Küsters GmbH & Co. KG following an antitrust evaluation. The companies
expect that evaluation to be completed by the end of March, according to Kellersmann.

As part of the change, Andritz gains majority share of the venture — 60 percent — and
industrial leadership of the new Krefeld-based business, which includes the Spartanburg-based
subsidiary Küsters Paper Machinery Corp. Jagenberg owns the remaining 40 percent of the new
business and maintains complete ownership of of Zittau-based Küsters Textile GmbH, formerly named
Küsters Zittauer Maschinenfabrik.

According to the companies, the joint venture clearly separates Küsters’ three industry
areas.

The wet-finishing textile machinery business, which was restructured before the latest
changes, operates exclusively out of Küsters Textile. Additionally, Küsters Textile’s Zittau site
is the only location for the group’s textile business, as the Krefeld textile site was closed in
December 2005. Küsters Textile also directs the company’s textile subsidiaries in India, China and
the United States.

Küsters Technologie in Krefeld, on the other hand, produces products for the nonwovens and
paper industries, including nonwoven and textile calenders and nonwoven wet finishing; and paper
roll technology, calenders, and press modules and sections.

“We follow the primary aim of creating industrial framework conditions for the individual
Küsters business fields which best support their successful continued existence,” said Erich W.
Bröker, CEO, Küsters. “Whereas, in view of intensifying global competition, a certain painful
restructuring step was unavoidable. The tie-up with Andritz opens up a markedly broadened market
access ….”

February 21, 2006

2004 US Organic Cotton Acreage Increases By 37 Percent

A 2005 survey from the Greenfield, Mass.-based Organic Trade Association (OTA) shows 12 US
farmers planted 5,550 acres of organic cotton in 2004 — a 37 percent increase from 2003 totals of
4,060 acres. Of that acreage, 5,020 contained organic upland cotton, while 530 were planted with
organic Pima cotton. Most of the acreage was in Texas, followed by California, New Mexico and
Missouri.

In 2005, there were 6,577 acres of planted organic cotton, mostly of the upland varietal.
That total represented a 19-percent increase over 2004.

In terms of harvesting, 2004 saw 6,814 bales of organic cotton, compared to 4,628 in 2003,
according to the survey and additional information from the Lubbock-based Texas Organic Cotton
Marketing Cooperative. Harvesting figures for 2005 are not currently available.

OTA reports that of the 52 people surveyed last year in seven states, 21 farmers responded,
including 12 organic cotton farmers and nine who did not grow organic cotton in 2004. The
association also notes that because only eight of the 16 Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative
members answered the survey, the organic cotton acreage and farmers numbers may be lower than
actual figures.

The survey was funded by a grant from Cary, N.C.-based Cotton Incorporated.

February 21, 2006

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