Businessweek

mary suppliers of POY to the Nylon segment are HN Fibers, Ltd., U.N.F. Industries Ltd. (UNF), UNF America, LLC (UNF America), Invista S.a.r.l. (INVISTA), Universal Premier Fibers, LLC, and Nilit US (Nilit). Seasonality Excluding the effects of fiscal years (fro the period ended June 24, 2012) with 53 operating weeks, the most significant effects on the company’s results of operations are due to the periods in which either it or its customers take planned manufacturing shutdowns during traditional holiday and plant shutdown periods. Intellectual Property The company licenses certain trademarks, including Dacron and Softec from INVISTA. It has 34 U.S. registered trademarks. The company’s trademark is REPREVE. Competition The major regional competitors for polyester yarns are O’Mara, Inc., and NanYa Plastics Corp. of America (NanYa) in the U.S.; AKRA, S.A. de C.V. in the NAFTA region; and C S Central America S.A. de C.V. (CS Central America) in the CAFTA region. The company’s major competitors in Brazil are Avanti Industria Comercio Importacao e Exportacao Ltda., Polyenka Ltda. The major regional competitors for nylon yarns are Sapona Manufacturing Company, Inc., and McMichael Mills, Inc. in the U.S.; and Worldtex, Inc. in the ATPDEA region. Environmental Matters The company is subject to various federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations limiting the use, storage, handling, release, discharge and disposal of a variety of hazardous substances and wastes used in or resulting from its operations and potential remediation obligations thereunder, particularly the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (including provisions relating to underground storage tanks) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, commonly referred to as Superfund or CERCLA and various state counterparts. The company’s operations are also governed by laws and regulations relating to workplace safety and worker health, principally the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations thereunder. History Unifi, Inc. was founded in 1969.