Switzerland-based Clariant has opened a new 14,000-square-meter color and additive masterbatch plant in Guangzhou, China, to service fast-growing local markets. The facility also will serve as Clariant’s China-based fiber technology development center. An existing manufacturing site established in Guangzhou in 1995 will be shut down as the new plant reaches full production. Clariant operates two other wholly owned masterbatch facilities in China.

Germany-based Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG recently took part in a German Technology Symposium & Exhibition held in Bangkok. The event — organized by the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the German Embassy to Thailand and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau — presented some 60 sessions, each with a special focus. More than 200 companies attended the four-day event.

Vietnam's new found strength was helped by a leap of almost 28% as US imports from the country hit US$1.5 bn. Moreover, this increase occurred during a period when US imports as a whole declined by 3.7%. The 28% rise put Vietnam just behind China, which has dominated supplies to the USA for five years