Antai Textile: Undercurrents in the July Market, Three Decades of 'Resilience' Weave a New Chapter in Textiles

In Zhangjiagang in July, the wind along the Yangtze River, carrying the humidity and heat of late summer, blows into every corner of Antai Textile's intelligent production workshop. The production line here is operating at a speed of 600 meters per minute, with rolls of brightly colored acrylic top emerging from the end of the equipment, soon to be shipped to textile factories in Zhejiang—where they will be woven into this autumn and winter's trending cashmere-like fabrics. Li Xiong, the Marketing Manager, stands in front of the large screen in the central control room, his finger tracing the real-time fluctuating raw material price curve, his brows slightly furrowed but his eyes firm: "This year's acrylic fiber market is like the Yangtze River water—calm on the surface, but full of undercurrents beneath." As a textile industry 'veteran' established in Zhangjiagang in 1993, Antai Textile has witnessed the entire process of China's textile industry transitioning from scale expansion to quality upgrading. Today, this enterprise with over 30 years of history has grown from a single acrylic yarn producer to a full-range supplier covering acrylic yarn, acrylic top, colored acrylic top, and various fancy yarns. Its products are exported to Europe, America, Southeast Asia, and other regions, and it has established in-depth cooperation with hundreds of textile enterprises at home and abroad. The market volatility in July this year is not only a test for Antai Textile but also a stage to demonstrate its 'resilience'. "The oil price volatility triggered by the Israel-Hamas conflict, the uncertainty in Jilin Chemical Fiber's production plans, and the pending tariff negotiations between the United States and major economies—these three forces have intertwined, making the July acrylic fiber prices ride a rollercoaster," Li Xiong explains, pointing to the K-line chart on the screen. "Our team's data tracking shows that as of July 10, although the average capacity utilization rate of the domestic acrylonitrile industry slightly increased to 76.20%, with weekly output also rising slightly to 83,100 tons, inventories simultaneously climbed to 45,800 tons, and the game between supply and demand has already begun. Not to mention Shandong Haijiang's 130,000-ton plant shutting down temporarily for a 10-day maintenance, and Lihuayi's spot quotation being reduced by 50 yuan/ton to 7,900 yuan/ton—these details all indicate that the window for sharp price fluctuations has opened." When the market's 'warning signals' came, Antai Textile reacted half a step faster than its peers. "We don't passively wait for price changes; instead, we proactively adjust our 'ammunition depot,'" says Factory Director Huang from the Production Department, leading the reporter into the raw material warehouse. Here, different batches of acrylonitrile raw materials are neatly stacked, with detailed quality inspection sheets and storage times attached next to each pile. "As early as the end of June, based on the marketing department's predictions, we pre-locked the supply from some long-term cooperative suppliers. For example, before Shandong Haijiang's maintenance, we adjusted the procurement cycle to stock up on enough supply for the next two weeks, avoiding the risk of short-term supply disruption," Director Huang says, picking up a roll of blue colored acrylic top. "More importantly, we have transformed the pressure from raw material fluctuations into motivation for product upgrading." In Antai Textile's R&D center, a comparative experiment is underway: traditional acrylic top requires downstream enterprises to carry out dyeing processes, while Antai's independently developed colored acrylic top completes coloring during the spinning process, which not only increases color fastness by 30% but also helps customers save 20% on dyeing costs. "In the first half of this year, orders for colored acrylic top increased by 45% year-on-year," Li Xiong adds. "Many customers have feedback that when raw material prices are unstable, this 'one-stop' product helps them lock in costs and reduce risks in intermediate links." In response to the potential supply increase from Jilin Petrochemical's new 260,000-ton acrylonitrile plant scheduled to start production at the end of July, Antai Textile has already established communication with the other party in advance, planning to incorporate the new capacity into its procurement system. Through the strategy of 'old suppliers ensuring stability, new suppliers expanding space,' it is building a more flexible supply chain. At the other end of the workshop, the fancy yarn production line is operating at full capacity. These special yarns wrapped with metallic threads and slub patterns are Antai Textile's 'flagship products' developed to meet the personalized needs of the fashion industry. "Nowadays, clothing brands are increasingly pursuing differentiation, and ordinary yarns can hardly meet their design needs," Li Xiong says, picking up a piece of fabric woven with fancy yarn. "Look at this 'cloud yarn'—by adjusting the fiber ratio and twist, it feels as soft as cotton candy. It has already been favored by an Italian luxury brand, which will place a bulk order next month." It is reported that relying on an R&D team composed of over 200 technical personnel, Antai Textile can launch more than 50 new types of fancy yarns every year, with R&D investment accounting for over 5% of revenue for five consecutive years. Since the first spinning machine started running in 1993, Antai Textile has weathered the impact of the Asian financial crisis and seized the opportunity of joining the WTO. "There is no permanent 'smooth sailing' in the textile industry; the key is to find certainty amid fluctuations," Li Xiong says in a steady tone, looking at the slogan outside the window in the factory area: "Thirty Years of Craftsmanship, Weaving Thousands of Threads." "For us, certainty lies in keen insight into market trends, meticulous refinement of production processes, and in-depth understanding of customer needs. No matter how prices fluctuate, as long as we hold onto these points, Antai will always stand firm and go far in the tide of the textile industry." At this moment, the machines in the workshop are still roaring, and rolls of acrylic products are being loaded onto trucks, heading to textile factories across the country. In this uncertain July, Antai Textile, with over three decades of industry accumulation and flexible 'resilience,' is writing a 'new story' belonging to traditional textile enterprises.