Cotton Incorporated, Cary, N.C., and Cotton Council International, Washington, recently sponsored
the Cotton Incorporated Global Denim Event 2007 at the Regent Shanghai hotel in Shanghai. More than
200 guests, including textile company and denim brand representatives from companies in the United
States, South America, China, Germany and Italy, attended the event.

“Cotton Incorporated has been hosting international cotton denim events since the mid-1980s,”
said J. Berrye Worsham, president and CEO, Cotton Incorporated. “This year, Cotton Incorporated has
partnered with Cotton Council International to create this important global event. By expanding
this event internationally, we recognize the ever-changing and expanding landscape of textile
partners.”

Xu Wenying, president, China Cotton Textile Association, and Dr. Li Yi, a professor at Hong
Kong Polytechnic University, kicked off the event with a discussion titled “Expanding Your Denim
Business,” in which other members of the denim textile and apparel industries shared their views on
the development of the denim market. Additional presentation topics included insights into key
denim markets around the world, denim innovations, sustainability strategies related to denim’s
environmental footprint and global market perspectives.

The World of Denim exhibition presented denim innovations and technologies including Cotton
Incorporated’s Storm Denim™ — a technology that combines wind-resistance and water repellency with
cotton’s breathability — and Stay True Cotton™ — a technology that helps indigo-tinted and dyed
denim retain its original color longer.



December 4, 2007

Preliminary findings in tests conducted by Philadelphia University’s recently established Institute
for Textile and Apparel Product Safety (ITAPS) indicate the presence of hazardous chemicals in
samples of imported children’s apparel and car seats.

Elevated levels of formaldehyde, used to provide permanent press attributes, were found in
blouses and khaki pants; while brominated resins — used to provide flame retardancy to consumer
products such as car seats, mattresses and others — were found in high levels in the car seats.

“Although we are still in the preliminary stages of testing, we are concerned that the levels
of formaldehyde and brominated flame retardants we are starting to find are known to have health
consequences, especially for children,” said Dr. David Brookstein, ITAPS director.

ITAPS was established to conduct research and develop testing and evaluation protocols to use
in determining the presence of potentially toxic chemicals and identifying specific chemicals and
their levels of use in imported apparel and other textile products.

According to the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel, global imports
of textiles and apparel into the United States totaled more than $93 billion in the year ending
July 31, 2007.



December 4, 2007

The Burlington Labs division of Burlington WorldWide (BWW) — a business unit of Greensboro,
N.C.-based International Textile Group Inc. (ITG) — has announced the debut of BWW’s Easy WOOL™
washable 100-percent worsted wool fabric line targeted for trousers and suitings.

According to Pete Baumann, vice president of merchandising, Easy Wool fabrics retain their
look, shape and feel through 25 washings and dryings; and the hand improves after each washing. In
addition, he said, the fabrics provide an environmentally responsible and economical alternative to
wool fabrics that must be dry cleaned using harsh chemicals; and they are preferable to superwash
wools from a sustainability standpoint because the wool does not go through a descaling process,
which requires the use of chlorine.

“The technology involves a combination of yarn formation, fabric construction and
nanotechnology,” Baumann said. “The nanotechnology is part of the finishing process, which will
allow the fabric to stay within 3.5-percent maximum shrinkage after 25 washes, and most of the
fabrics perform well under that — shrinking no more than 3 or even 2.5 percent.”

Easy Wool, which is included in BWW’s Easy Care Collection of washable wools, joins Cocona™
wool with activated carbon derived from coconut shells and Invisible Barrier™ stain-repellent
fabrics in the company’s portfolio of innovative wool fabrics. BWW manufactures the new line at its
plant in Mexico and expects also to transfer the technology to ITG’s sister company, OCM India —a
cquired earlier this year by ITG owner, WL Ross & Co. LLC, New York City — for production for
the Spring 2009 season.



December 4, 2007

West Conshohocken, Pa.-based ASTM International’s Subcommittee F23.70 on Radiological Hazards —
part of ASTM International Committee F23 on Protective Clothing — is developing a new inspection
standard targeted to healthcare workers who inspect radiation protection garments.

ASTM International Standard WK15823, Practice for the Fluoroscopic Inspection of Radiation
Protection Garments, will provide healthcare workers, radiation safety officers and managers
responsible for inspection programs with a specific method — including acceptance or rejection
criteria — for inspecting these types of garments.

The subcommittee has formed a task group to help develop the new standard, and is
specifically looking for the involvement of radiological healthcare professionals. For more
information, contact Gary Glenn, Golden Gate Medical Supplies LLC, (415) 234-6217;
goldengatemedical@gmail.com.

December 4, 2007

Beginning in April 2008, the technical center at Austria-based SML Maschinengesellschaft mbH will
make a new sleeve touch co-extrusion line available to customers for conducting trials for a wide
range of products and applications using their own raw materials.

The pilot plant will feature a five-layer feedblock attached to three extruders, resulting in
an output of 425 kilograms per hour (kg/hr) for polypropylene, 380 kg/hr for polycarbonate and 600
kg/hr for amorphous polyethylene/polyethylene terephthalate glycol; and 1,050-millimeter-wide
rollers on downstream equipment. It also can be fitted with a sleeve touch system, coating module,
calender roller or airknife. The addition of a haul off unit will enable in-line lamination.

The line can achieve speeds of up to 100 meters per minute for production of thin sheet or
coating applications by utilizing the fully automatic winder series 1100, including robot bobbin
handling. It also can produce part bobbins using friction winding shafts.

Additional features include: a degassing extruder, which eliminates the need for preliminary
granulate drying; and high-temperature calendering rollers to enable the manufacture of
polycarbonate and cyclic olefin copolymer sheet for optical applications.

December 4, 2007

Australian Wool Services Ltd. (AWS) held its final annual general meeting last week, following the
sale in October of its Woolmark Co. assets and related brands, trademarks and licensing businesses
to Australian Wool Innovation.

Company shareholders voted to re-elect Board of Directors Chairman Barry Walker and Deputy
Chairman John Patten. They also elected Dr. Ian Hilton to the board, and voted to change AWS’s name
to Graziers’ Investment Co. Ltd.

Graziers’ will operate as a funds management business, maintaining the International Wool
Secretariat Pension Fund, the Andar textile machinery business in New Zealand and property in
India. Walker, Patten, Hilton and Director Philip Attard will manage the new company, which will be
run by a small secretariat in Melbourne, Australia.

December 4, 2007

Failure of Congress to enact a new Farm Bill has left the textile industry’s cotton textile
competitiveness program in limbo. Although the House passed a bill in July that included a
competitiveness program, the legislation has bogged down in the Senate, where Republicans have
blocked its consideration with procedural tactics.

There is a chance the Senate will take another run at a bill this week, but with the short
time remaining in the current session, it may be impossible to reconcile the House and Senate bills
and send something to the president that he is willing to sign. The legislation pending in both
houses includes a competitiveness program, but is being held up by other issues.

Under a law enacted by Congress in the 1930s designed to bolster the US cotton industry, US
textile mills are virtually prohibited from importing raw cotton. When the world price for cotton
is lower than the domestic price, US textile manufacturers are at a competitive disadvantage. Over
the years, a number of attempts have been made to address the problem and make US manufacturers
more competitive. In 1990, Congress enacted a Cotton Competitiveness Program that permitted a
limited amount of imports and made direct payments to mills and shippers to offset the difference
in the world and domestic prices. That law subsequently was rolled over a couple of times, but in
2004 the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the direct payments were an illegal subsidy, and
Congress in 2005 passed legislation eliminating them.

In an effort to restore the competitiveness program, the House passed a bill providing for
somewhat expanded criteria for opening import quotas and restoration of direct payments. In order
to overcome the WTO problem the bill stipulates that payments of 4 cents per pound have to be used
for acquisition, expansion or modernization of plants.

In view of the limited time remaining in the current session, it is unlikely legislation
combining both measures could be crafted and signed by the president. If nothing is enacted this
year, the current law permitting some imports but no payments remains in effect, and a new Farm
Bill would have to be taken up in January.

November 27, 2007

Textil Rossignolo Ltda, a Brazil-based cotton yarn supplier that specializes in production of Ne 8
denim yarns, has installed six new TC 03 cards from Germany-based Trützschler GmbH & Co. KG.
The installation is part of a company restructuring that began in 2003.

The new cards, which achieve outputs of between 165 and 180 kilograms per hour (kg/h) each,
were installed on one of Rossignolo’s two Trützschler blowroom lines, and replace eight DK 903
cards installed in 2004 that achieved outputs between 120 and 140 kg/h. The TC 03 cards feed
directly into six Schlafhorst Autocoros, having 360 rotors each.

Rossignolo expects to continue its restructuring with installation of a new Trützschler
Wasteomat fiber waste recovery installation unit that will enable blowroom and card waste to be
recovered and introduced back into the line.

November 27, 2007

Switzerland-based weaving preparation and wet finishing machinery producer Benninger AG has
acquired Germany-based wet finishing and dyeing machinery manufacturer Küsters Textile GmbH — a
deal that includes subsidiaries Küsters Far East Ltd., Hong Kong, and Küsters Shanghai Co. Ltd.,
and is retroactive to the beginning of 2007. The price of the transaction will not be disclosed and
is still subject to approval by antitrust agencies in Europe.

Benninger plans to integrate Küsters manufacturing activities into those of its own, and will
continue to operate the Küsters manufacturing facility in Zittau, Germany. In 2006, Küsters
employed 180 people and achieved a turnover of approximately 22 million euros (US$32.6 million).

“With this acquisition, we will attain an excellent market position, which will enable us to
further improve our efficiency towards our customers,” said Daniel Hirschi, CEO, Benninger. “The
synergies we will be able to exploit as a result will contribute to put Benninger in an even better
position regarding global competition.”



November 27, 2007