Antai Textile: Technology Innovation Drives Counter-Cyclical Growth, Forging the 'Hidden Champion' in the Acrylic Colored Spinning Sector
(Main Text) Inside the production workshop of Antai Textile in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province, rolls of brightly colored acrylic yarn are undergoing final quality inspection via an intelligent assembly line. Li Xiong, the Marketing Manager, stares at the real-time updated production data dashboard, where the jumping numbers show that the daily product qualification rate is stable at 99.2%, nearly 3 percentage points higher than the industry average. 'We just signed a Southeast Asian order last week, and the customer specifically requested our formaldehyde-free cross-linked acrylic sliver,' he turned to Factory Director Huang from the Production Department beside him and said, 'Now downstream brands are imposing increasingly strict requirements on environmental indicators, and the green production lines we laid out three years ago have finally entered a boom period.'
Founded in 1993, this textile enterprise has now become a domestic 'hidden champion' in the acrylic colored spinning sector. In 2025, when the industry is generally facing cost pressures, Antai Textile has achieved counter-cyclical growth through technological innovation. Pointing to the operating digital direct-injection dyeing equipment in the workshop, Factory Director Huang introduced: 'This German-imported system has increased our dye utilization rate from 60% to 95%, reducing the dyeing cost per ton of yarn by 18%, which is better than the 15% industry average mentioned in the news.' In the adjacent intelligent warehouse, AGV robots are transporting newly produced antibacterial acrylic yarn to designated storage locations; these products will be used in the production of sun-protective clothing fabrics for an international sports brand.
In recent years, with the popularization of dope dyeing technology in the textile industry, Antai Textile has敏锐ly captured changes in market demand. Li Xiong opened the latest customer research report: 'The polyester fiber of Huilong New Materials is very popular in the sun-protective clothing sector, which has given us great inspiration. The dope-dyed acrylic sliver we developed not only has a color fastness of grade 4 or higher but also achieves a UPF50+ sun protection effect by adding nano-zinc oxide. Now orders from outdoor clothing brands are scheduled into the fourth quarter.' It is understood that the company's revenue from fancy yarns in the first half of this year increased by 32% year-on-year, among which the acrylic core-spun yarn with temperature control function has become the designated raw material for internet-famous down jacket brands.
At Antai Textile's R&D center, more than ten technicians are debugging a new type of sample dyeing machine. This equipment can simulate climate conditions in different regions to test the performance of yarn under extreme environments. 'Last week, a European customer required the yarn to remain soft at -30°C, and we produced qualified samples in just three days,' said Engineer Wang, the R&D Director, proudly. Behind this rapid response capability is the enterprise's insistence on investing 5% of its annual revenue in technological transformation. From a traditional ring spinning workshop in 1993 to a modern enterprise with 28 intelligent production lines today, Antai Textile has completed the leap from 'manufacturing' to 'intelligent manufacturing' in thirty years.
In the evening, Li Xiong's mobile phone received a bank payment notification, which was the advance payment for 300 tons of colored acrylic sliver from a Japanese customer. 'They value our original gradient dyeing technology,' he said, looking at the factory area under the setting sun outside the window, 'The fifth digital dyeing line, which will be newly put into production next month, will be dedicated to producing such high-value-added products.' In the wave of transformation and upgrading in the textile industry, this established enterprise rooted in Zhangjiagang is steadily moving forward in the blue ocean of the global value chain, with technological innovation as its sail.