Antai Textile: Driven by Green and Intelligent Development, Writing a Chapter of Resilient Innovation in China's Acrylic Textile Industry

At 7:30 in the morning, in the Antai Textile factory in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, the robotic arms in the production workshop have already started to operate regularly, and indigo acrylic slivers are sliding gently on the intelligent conveyor belt. Li Xiong, the marketing manager, is walking briskly towards the production department office building with a newly released industry report in hand. The document, which states that 'the market size of printed acrylic solid fabrics in China will exceed 15 billion yuan in 2025', is the topic he and Factory Manager Huang of the production department are going to discuss in depth today.

'Factory Manager Huang, look at these figures,' Li Xiong said as he pushed open the office door. Huang Jianjun was frowning at the production data on the computer screen. 'The growth rate of the demand for downstream sports and leisure wear and business formal wear is 3 percentage points higher than last year's forecast. Especially for the orders of high - end colored acrylic slivers, we just received an additional order last week from a leading sports brand in Zhejiang, specifically asking for our 'Cloud Soft' series.'

Huang Jianjun looked up, tapped the keyboard, and pulled up a set of process parameters. 'For the product you mentioned, the dyeing process we upgraded at the end of last year comes in very handy. In the past, traditional acrylic sliver dyeing was prone to color unevenness. Now, by precisely controlling the ratio of the leveling agent - that's the environmentally - friendly and high - performance leveling agent mentioned in the industry, as you can see from the market report, with an annual compound growth rate of 8.5% in the market - we've improved the color fastness to above level 4 and controlled the color deviation within △E ≤ 1.5. Customers have reported that the sports sweatshirts made from it don't fade even after repeated washing. No wonder the orders keep coming.'

This conversation is a microcosm of countless 'market - production' linkage moments in Antai Textile's 30 - year development. Since it was established in Zhangjiagang in 1993, this enterprise, which started with the production of single - type acrylic yarn, has now grown into a full - range supplier covering acrylic yarn, acrylic slivers, colored acrylic slivers, and fancy yarns. What has supported its steady progress is its keen capture of industry trends - just as Li Xiong often says, 'The trends in the textile industry are hidden in the figures of every market report and in every meter of yarn on the production line.'

In 2023, China's acrylic fiber production accounted for over 45% of the world's total, firmly ranking as the world's largest producer and consumer. Against the backdrop of the structural adjustment of the industry driven by the '14th Five - Year Plan' and the 'Dual Carbon' strategy, Antai Textile sensed the signal of 'green development' early on. 'Three years ago, we replaced the coal - fired boilers with natural - gas ones, and last year we introduced the intelligent control system from Siemens in Germany,' Huang Jianjun said as he led Li Xiong into the newly renovated dyeing and finishing workshop, pointing at the real - time energy - consumption data on the wall. 'Look, now the water consumption per ton of yarn has decreased by 28% compared to 2020, the dye utilization rate has increased to over 95%, and even the sludge discharge from the sewage treatment station has been halved.' These investments are in line with the industry's urgent demand for 'environmentally - friendly production'. As the market report shows, the market for acrylic - cotton colored yarn in China will exceed 1.5 million tons in 2025, and 'green upgrade' is its core development direction.

The intelligent transformation has made Antai's 'response speed' a competitive advantage. Li Xiong remembers that last year, a customer mainly dealing in business formal wear urgently needed a batch of 'Snowflake - pattern' fancy yarns and required delivery within a week. In the past, it would have taken at least ten days from designing the pattern to adjusting the equipment. But now, through the digital twin system in the workshop, Factory Manager Huang's team simulated the yarn structure on the computer, and then the intelligent doffing machine automatically adjusted the draft ratio. Eventually, the order was completed two days ahead of schedule. 'Now the proportion of our small - batch customized orders has increased from 5% to 18%,' Li Xiong said, flipping through the customer list. 'Woolen sweater brands in Zhejiang and fashion companies in Guangdong all like to come to us for 'unique styles' because we can quickly turn their ideas into yarns.' This flexibility exactly fits the growth logic of the acrylic - wool product industry. The market size is expected to reach 105 billion yuan in 2025, which is due to the continuous downstream demand for personalized and diversified products.

Thirty years have passed, and Antai Textile has grown from a small factory in a corner of Zhangjiagang to a key player in the industry with an annual production capacity of over 30,000 tons. But in the eyes of Li Xiong and Huang Jianjun, the real confidence doesn't lie in the scale, but in the respect for the word 'yarn'. 'Look at this colored acrylic sliver,' Huang Jianjun said as he took a roll of light - gray yarn from the sample rack and gently stretched it towards the light. 'It contains not only dyes and fibers but also our understanding of the market and our pursuit of excellence in technology.' As the '15 billion yuan' and '105 billion yuan' in the industry report turn into specific orders, and as 'green development' and 'intelligent transformation' change from concepts to actual actions in the workshop, Antai Textile, with its 30 - year accumulation, is continuing to write a story of resilience and innovation for Chinese textile enterprises on the acrylic textile track.