ITMA Asia + CITME 2008 Sold Out

What a success: With a year to go before the show opens for the first time in China, the ITMA Asia
+ CITME 2008 exhibition is already sold out. The 3rd ITMA Asia, which will take place in Shanghai,
is scheduled to be held from 27-31 July 2008.

The 100,000 square meters (m2) of gross exhibition space at the Shanghai New International
Expo Centre (SNIEC) for the first combined show has been booked up by textile machinery
manufacturers from around the world.

As applications continue to come in, the show owners European Committee of Textile Machinery
Manufacturers (CEMATEX), the Sub Council of Textile Industry, China Council for the Promotion of
International Trade (CCPIT-TEX), China Textile Machinery Association (CTMA) and China International
Exhibition Center Group Corp. (CIEC) have booked additional space at SNIEC.

800 Manufacturers From 20 Countries

ITMA Asia + CITME 2008 is organized by Beijing Textile Machinery International Exhibition Co.
Ltd. and by former ITMA Asia organizer MP International Pte. Ltd. At the close of space
applications in April 2007, organizers had received bookings from some 800 manufacturers from 20
countries and regions, filling all nine halls. The bulk of applications to date has come from
CEMATEX countries — Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
and Great Britain — and China, each taking about 45 percent of total space. Other applications have
been received from manufacturers in Denmark, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.

The Japan Textile Machinery Association (JTMA), a key partner of the ITMA Asia + CITME 2008
show, will bring a strong group of exhibitors to Shanghai. Space booked so far by Japanese
exhibitors has already exceeded that of ITMA Asia 2005, and more bookings are likely to come.

Two new halls which are currently under construction will be ready in time for ITMA Asia +
CITME 2008. This will bring the gross exhibition area to 120,000 m2 for the combined show’s debut.



Stringent Admission Criteria

The combined show features stringent admission criteria. Only original machinery
manufacturers are allowed to take part in the exhibition, no agents, and each exhibitor must show
actual products. No information booths are allowed. It will be the first exhibition in China to
establish an on-site Intellectual Property Protection Office. This move has been well-received by
the exhibitors as it protects their intellectual property rights and enhances the quality of the
exhibition.

Meanwhile, extensive promotions are being planned to invite buyers from the region to visit
the combined show. Strict controls will also be implemented to ensure that only trade and
professional visitors are admitted to the exhibition so as to create an excellent business platform
for exhibitors and buyers.

Important Cooperation Between ITMA Asia + CITME

China’s Vice Premier Madam Wu Yi commended the strong cooperation between ITMA Asia and
CITME. “The combination of two leading textile machinery exhibitions in the world’s largest textile
and apparel industrial center will further facilitate the complementary cooperation between the
textile industries in China and Europe, and boost prosperity and progress in a globalised world,”
she said.

CEMATEX President A. E. Roberts added, “China is a very important market for our members and
they are enthusiastic about the country’s potential. As a result, they are concentrating all their
marketing efforts into this milestone show.”

ITMA Asia + CITME 2008 has received support from the world’s major textile machinery
associations: the American Textile Machinery Association (ATMA); CTMA; CEMATEX; JTMA; Korea Textile
Machinery Association (KOTMA); and Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI). These
associations have also pledged that the combined show will be the only exhibition in China that
they will fully support in the future.

For more information, go to www.itmaasia.com.



June 19, 2007

Air Products Announces Price Increases

Effective July 1, 2007, Air Products
Polymers LP, Allentown, Pa., will increase the price for vinyl acetate homopolymer and copolymer,
vinyl acetate ethylene copolymer, vinyl acetate vinyl chloride copolymer and vinyl acrylic-based
emulsions by 2.5 cents per wet pound in North America. These products are sold under the Airflex®,
Flexbond® and Vinac® trademarks. The company cited increasing prices and a tight supply of raw
materials as reasons for the increases.



June 12, 2007

PGI To Consolidate European Operations

Polymer Group Inc. (PGI), Charlotte,
announced plans to phase out operations at its nonwovens plant in Neunkirchen, Germany, by the end
of 2007 and move portions of that business to its plant in Cuijk, the Netherlands, in order to
reduce costs and improve the company’s overall profitability. Following the consolidation, PGI’s
European operations will comprise the Cuijk plant and a facility in Bailleul, France.

“PGI is focused on ensuring we have the right cost structure to effectively compete in each
of our markets,” said Veronica M. “Ronee” Hagen, CEO. “Our operation in Germany is not of
sufficient size to support a stand-alone site, but the business will remain viable when combined
with our existing operation in the Netherlands. While difficult, these actions are necessary to
ensure our long-term competitiveness and ability to position our company for further growth and
investment in the region.”



June 12, 2007

INDA Now Accepting Entries For 2008 Visionary Award

The Association of the Nonwoven
Fabrics Industry (INDA), Cary, N.C., is now accepting entries for its 2008 Visionary Award, which
recognizes consumer end products that use nonwoven fabrics or nonwoven technology during the
manufacturing process. Deadline for submissions is Sept 1, 2007.

The award will be presented at the Vision 2008 Consumer Products Conference, to be held Feb.
5-7, 2008, at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel in Forth Worth, Texas.

For more information, contact Michael Jacobsen, Visionary Awards coordinator, (201)
612-6601; mjacobsen@inda.org; www.inda.org.



June 12, 2007

Milliken & Company Named One Of World’s Most Ethical Businesses

Spartanburg-based Milliken &
Company has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere magazine, a
Phoenix-based publication that sheds light on the relationship between ethics and profit.

Milliken, one of just 92 companies on the list, was recognized for its leadership in ethics
and compliance, advancement of discourse on social and ethical issues, and positive engagement in
the surrounding community.

Ethisphere conducted a lengthy process of selection, looking at companies’ codes of ethics,
litigation and regulatory infraction histories, investment in innovation and sustainable business
practices, and activities to improve corporate citizenship. The magazine also worked with consumer
action groups to gain feedback and rating, and studied nominations from senior executives, industry
peers, suppliers and customers.

“Milliken’s strong culture of business values and community values has evolved over 140
years of doing the right things the right way,” said Ashley Allen, CEO, Milliken & Company. “
This is indeed an honor for every person in our company. Our long-standing philosophy of making
money with people, not out of them, continues to benefit our associates, our customers and the
communities in which we operate.”



June 12, 2007

US And European Manufacturers Set Joint Agenda

Trade associations representing US
and European textile manufacturers have joined together to present a united front with respect to
textile and apparel trade, if and when, the stalled Doha Round of trade liberalization negotiations
is resumed.

At the annual meeting of Eurocoton, the European trade organization representing the cotton
and allied textile industries, officials of that group and the Washington-based National Council of
Textile Organizations (NCTO) urged their respective governments to attack countries that use
non-tariff barriers to protect their own industries while employing what they say are “predatory
trade practices” that undermine textile and apparel manufacturing in the United States and Europe.

“The Doha negotiations are supposed to increase trade, not hand it over to countries [that]
do not play by the rules,” said Cass Johnson, president, NCTO. “Our industries are strongly opposed
to Doha ‘solutions’ currently under consideration that would allow the central government of China
to dominate world productions of textiles and apparel under the guise of increased market access.”

Thomas Lanaras, president of Eurocoton, said the trade promotion formulas currently under
consideration in the Doha Round do not take into account protectionist policies of China and other
major exporting countries. “We cannot support formulas [that] allow protectionist and high tariff
walls while trading away the last defenses our industries enjoy,” Lanaras said. “Our governments
should support a sectoral solution which, on the tariffs side, would be equitable by providing for
tariff reciprocity at levels that would still preserve attractiveness to existing preferential
tariff rates, rather than slash them.”

The Doha Round of negotiations was suspended last April when it became apparent there were
vast differences on agriculture issues and the positions of the developed and developing nations in
the manufacturing sectors. While US government trade officials remain optimistic about the chances
for resumption of the talks, little progress has been made. Another key issue standing in the way
of the negotiations is the question of renewal by Congress of the President’s trade promotion
authority (TPA), which expires at the end of June. Without TPA, officials in the United States and
other countries agree, a successful round of negotiations would be impossible

While there is anything but a consensus on textile tariff cuts, US and European officials
say that whatever is done must result in reciprocal market access.

With respect to another major issue — removal of safeguard quotas on Chinese imports at the
end of 2008 — the European and US trade associations voiced their concern over the impact of
freeing up trade in what are considered particularly sensitive product categories. According to
officials of the two trade associations China has captured a two-thirds share of both the European
Union and US markets where quotas have been removed in the past. They warned that their industries
would be “devastated” if quotas are removed from the product categories that still remain under
quota control.

Both groups urged their governments to ensure that Chinese exports in key categories
continue to be kept under quota restraints after the present safeguards expire.



June 12, 2007

Administration Seeks Elimination Of Trade Subsidies

The Bush administration has submitted
a petition to the World Trade Organization (WTO) asking it to prohibit what it calls “particularly
trade-distorting subsidies,” some of which have been sharply criticized by US textile manufacturers

In a paper presented to the WTO’s Development Agenda Negotiation Group on Rules, US Trade
Representative Susan C. Schwab said, “It is time for the WTO to develop rules that will rein in the
use of industrial subsidies.”

The types of subsidies the United States would like to prohibit include coverage of
operating losses, forgiveness of government held debt, lending to uncredit-worthy companies, equity
investments in unequity worthy companies, and offering government financing that is not
commercially available. The petition also proposed additional WTO transparency procedures
applicable to state-owned companies and government subsidies to those companies.

US textile industry representatives in Washington have long been critical of
trade-distorting subsidies offered to manufacturers in countries with state-owned companies such as
China and Vietnam. While currency manipulation has received the most attention, they also have
strongly objected to various forms of financial assistance given to state-owned exporting
companies.



June 12, 2007

Lenzing Plastics Acquires Glassmaster

Austria-based The Lenzing Group’s
Lenzing Plastics GmbH subsidiary has acquired the majority of the assets of Lexington, S.C.-based
monofilament plastics manufacturer Glassmaster in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy sale. Lenzing Plastics
will continue to operate the company, renamed Hahl Inc., with a downsized workforce

Hahl, which produces cut plastic filaments for brushes, bristles and fabrics used in
industrial and commercial applications, will become the headquarters of Lenzing Plastics’ US
business. Lenzing expects to realize sales of US$7 million to US$8 million in the United States,
Europe and Asia.

“The acquisition of Glassmaster is another building block in Lenzing Plastics’ expansion
strategy,” said Thomas Fahnemann, chairman of The Lenzing Group’s Management Board. “The product
portfolio of Glassmaster is the optimum extension of our recent takeover of the Hahl Group, whose
emphasis is on the production of industrial synthetic brushes as well.”

Lenzing Plastics acquired the Germany-based Hahl Group GmbH earlier this year with the goal
of improving its competitive position in the plastics niche products sector. Subsequently, it also
acquired Pedex + Co. GmbH — a Germany-based special filaments producer serving cosmetics, hygiene,
industrial, domestic and professional markets — in a further move to enhance that position.



June 12, 2007

June 2007

The new Tempsonics® catalog from the
Sensors Division of Cary, N.C.-based

MTS Systems Corp.
is an all-inclusive industrial product guide to linear position feedback solutions for
the fluid power industry. In addition, the company has introduced the R-Series SSI encoder position
sensor and a line of liquid level sensors using variations of its Tempsonics magnetostrictive
sensing technology.




Standard Textile
, Cincinnati, has introduced the Crypton® In & Out guaranteed outdoor-appropriate,
bleach-cleanable fabric with a two-year ultraviolet warranty; and the Crypton Green collection of
performance fabric made of 100-percent recycled polyester and featuring Silver Cradle-Cradle
Certification from MBDC LLC, Charlottesville, Va.

The

Specialty Graphic Imaging Association
, Fredericksburg, Va., now offers a webinar series. A full schedule and registration is
available at www.sgia.org, keyword webinar. SGIA also offers at its website a summary report and
full-survey report of its annual Business Growth survey.


Meese Orbitron Dunne Co.
, Ashtabula, Ohio, has released a new brochure detailing its range of bulk and linen
shelf trucks, utility trucks, baskets and hampers.

The

Garment Industry Development Corp.
, New York City, has launched 10018 Unzipped, a virtual tour of New York City’s garment
center featuring profiles of garment center tenants, a garment glossary, map of the area, and
highlights of local businesses and attractions.


KnollTextiles
, New York City, has introduced the Dorothy Cosonas Spring Collection of four upholstery
fabrics with nine color groupings each.

The

Commercial Intelligence Service
, a division of Business Monitor International, London, has published The Foreign
Companies In Mexico Yearbook and CD-ROM.



May/June 2007

A Not-Too-Bad Early 2007


F
inal January-April textile statistics are providing a bit of cheer to industry
executives. For one, mill production has remained pretty much unchanged from end-of-2006 levels.
And while four months do not necessarily indicate a trend, the new numbers would clearly seem to
suggest an improvement over the last six months of 2006 when overall mill output dropped about 5
percent. Moreover, this newly noted leveling off is confirmed by Uncle Sam’s textile shipment
numbers, which show early 2007 averages running only about 1 percent under last December’s
levels.


Equally encouraging is the fact that virtually all of this new output seems to be going into
consumption rather than inventory. Backing this up, mill inventory/sales ratios have for the most
part remained at relatively low unchanged levels. To be sure, some decline in overall mill activity
still seems inevitable for the year as a whole. But given the relatively encouraging 2007 start,

TW
is becoming increasingly confident that the beginning-of-the-year forecast
(See “Textiles 2007: Another Reasonably Good Year,”
TW, January/February 2007)
will hold up. Recall at that time

TW
called for only a small 1 to 2 percent decline in aggregate mill shipments. And that’s
still our expectation. All the above would also seem to bode well for early 2007 profit figures,
which are just now coming out. But one word of caution: Not all mill segments will fare equally
well. And again, harking back to our earlier predictions, TW feels the more highly fabricated
sectors of the industry will fare better than basic textiles — mainly yarns and fabrics.


A Brightening Economic Picture

Another encouraging sign: Recent fears of a general business slow-down are beginning to fade.
To be sure, early 2007 gross domestic gains haven’t been all that robust — with first quarter
numbers rising at a less than 1.5-percent annual rate. But according to Nariman Behravesh, chief
economist at consulting firm Global Insight, this may be about to change. In any case, by year-end,
he expects the economy to again be growing at a near 3-percent annual rate. Much of the optimism
here stems from the fact that consumers, who account for some 70 percent of all economic activity,
continue to spend. Indeed, even during the recently ended first quarter, consumer outlays rose at a
3.8-percent annual rate — actually a bit faster than the 3.2-percent pace noted for all of last
year. More important, a good portion of this is being funneled into textile’s principal market —
apparel. Thus, retail sales at clothing and accessory stores at last report were running close to
5-percent ahead of comparable 2006 levels.

True, imported merchandise accounts for much of this gain. Nevertheless, this key number does
suggest a basically still-strong demand for textile and apparel products. Another bullish
macro-economic sign: All-industry factory production also looks to be on the rise again. Thus, the
Institute of Supply Management — a grassroots purchasing executive trade group — notes that as of
last report, its index of industrial activity rose to its highest level in nearly a year.



Other Upbeat Signs

Some positive developments can also be expected on the trade front as the United States and
China try to hammer out new compromises, and recent declines in the trade-weighted US dollar make
exports more competitive and imports more expensive. On the latter score, this dollar weakness can
already be seen in US global imports of textile mill products, where year-to-date numbers on a
square meter equivalents basis are no larger than they were over the comparable 2006 period.
Indeed, exclude China, and our imports of these products have actually shown a fractional decline.
Still another encouraging sign of US textile industry viability: Continuing heavy investment in new
plant and equipment.

Indeed, despite continuing mill shutdowns, this strong capital spending has held the drop in
overall US textile mill capacity to only around 2 percent this past year. That’s not all that bad
considering all the recent negative forecasts about domestic mill shrinkage in today’s increasingly
competitive one-world market. Nor was the past year an anomaly in this respect. According to recent
National Council of Textile Organizations estimates, domestic mills have invested upwards of $3
billion a year in new plant and equipment over the past decade. All told, this had enabled the
industry to boost productivity a hefty 51 percent over the past decade. That’s the equivalent of an
impressive 4.25-percent annual rate of advance — putting textiles second among all industrial
sectors in output-per-worker advances.



June 5, 2007

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