Antai Textile's Thirty Years: Becoming the 'Stabilizer' in the Tides of the Acrylic Fiber Market with Resilience and Innovation

In Zhangjiagang in July, the summer heat is rising, yet the production workshop of Antai Textile is in orderly operation – crimson acrylic fiber sliver flows along the automated production line, and after drawing and twisting, it quickly turns into rolls of evenly colored fancy yarn. Director Huang of the Production Department盯着 the跳动的参数 on the central control screen, operating the keyboard swiftly: 'Fine-tune the draft multiple of Machine No. 3 by another 0.2; this batch of "Iridescent Chenille" for the Zhejiang customer needs more precise yarn bulkiness.' In the nearby Marketing Department office, Li Xiong is intently analyzing a stack of industry weekly reports, with the latest acrylonitrile market data on the screen: capacity utilization rate 76.20%, weekly output 83,100 tons, Jilin Petrochemical's 260,000-ton new plant to be put into operation at the end of the month... Behind these numbers lie the vicissitudes of the acrylic yarn market, and more importantly, the 'adaptation strategy' that Antai Textile has honed through three decades of deep cultivation.

Finding 'Certainty' Amid Raw Material Fluctuations: Three Decades of Accumulated Supply Chain Resilience

"Acrylonitrile is the 'rice' for acrylic fiber. Whether the 'rice price' is stable and sufficient directly affects whether we can cook good 'meals'," Li Xiong said, picking up the acrylonitrile inventory data sheet on the table, which showed an inventory of 45,800 tons, an increase of 3,000 tons from last week, with a note next to it about the 10-day temporary maintenance of Shandong Haijiang's plant. "You see, on one hand, Jilin Petrochemical's new plant will be put into operation at the end of the month, which may ease supply; on the other hand, partial factory maintenance brings short-term supply contraction pressure. This 'loosening and tightening' is the biggest test of an enterprise's predictive ability."

As a professional acrylic fiber manufacturer rooted in Zhangjiagang since 1993, Antai Textile has long embedded the 'resilience' of the raw material supply chain into its genes. Li Xiong recalled that during the 2008 financial crisis, raw material prices plummeted, and many peers suffered huge losses due to blind stockpiling. However, Antai, relying on long-term cooperation with leading enterprises such as Jilin Petrochemical and Shanghai Petrochemical, locked in a 'step-price procurement agreement', which not only avoided price fluctuation risks but also ensured production continuity. Now facing the complex situation, this 'combination punch' has been upgraded again: 'Our Marketing Department holds weekly "iron triangle" meetings with the Production Department and Purchasing Department. For example, regarding the commissioning of Jilin Petrochemical's new plant this time, we communicated with suppliers three months in advance and locked in some long-term orders at a price about 3% lower than the spot price; at the same time, Director Huang is adjusting the production schedule, moving back orders for conventional acrylic yarn with high raw material consumption, and prioritizing the production of high-value-added products such as colored acrylic sliver and fancy yarn, which have a lower proportion of raw material costs and stronger risk resistance.'

Director Huang took over the conversation: "When raw materials fluctuate, the production end needs to be more 'meticulous'. Look at this system; it can adjust the batching ratio in real-time according to the purity of acrylonitrile. In the past, with manual batching, 2 kilograms of raw materials were wasted per ton of yarn, but now it has been reduced to less than 0.5 kilograms. Take the maintenance of Shandong Haijiang as an example: we switched to alternative raw material channels a week in advance, and with the 15-day stock reserve, production was not delayed at all. Last week, a Zhejiang customer urgently added an order for 200 tons of colored acrylic sliver, and we delivered it in 3 days. The customer praised, 'Antai's ship never misses its schedule.'"

Creating 'New Value' Amid Demand Changes: From 'Selling Yarn' to 'Solving Problems'

Changes are quietly taking place in the downstream market of acrylic yarn. As consumers' demand for 'personalization' and 'functionality' in clothing increases, the market share of traditional grey yarn has shrunk year by year, while differentiated products such as colored acrylic sliver and fancy yarn have grown against the trend. Li Xiong has a set of data in his computer: in 2024, Antai's fancy yarn sales increased by 28% year-on-year, and the gross profit margin of innovative products such as 'gradient segment color yarn' and 'slub core-spun yarn' is 15 percentage points higher than that of conventional products.

"This is no accident," Li Xiong said, opening the customer case book. "Last year, a sports brand customer in Fujian wanted to make an 'moisture-absorbing and heat-generating' acrylic sportswear, but traditional acrylic has poor moisture absorption. Our R&D team spent three months adding 0.3% graphene modified masterbatch to the acrylic sliver production. The resulting yarn has a 40% increase in moisture absorption rate and can generate heat through friction. Now this yarn has become their 'bestselling raw material', with a stable monthly order of 500 tons."

Such innovation is inseparable from Antai's敏锐 capture of market trends. Since July this year, affected by factors such as crude oil price fluctuations caused by the Israel-Hamas conflict and tariff negotiations, the acrylic price expectation has been 'uncertain rise and fall'. Li Xiong found that many small and medium-sized textile mills dare not stock up and are afraid of subsequent price increases leading to higher costs. 'We immediately launched the "flexible order" service – customers pay a 30% deposit first to lock in the current price, and then pick up the goods in batches within the next three months at the locked price. A fabric factory in Jiangsu ordered 1,000 tons of acrylic yarn using this plan last month. Now the raw material price has increased by 500 yuan/ton, and this single order alone has saved them 500,000 yuan.'

Director Huang added that the production end is also escorting the 'flexible orders': 'We have changed the workshop's "large-batch production" to "modular small-batch production". For example, the same machine can produce 200 tons of conventional acrylic yarn in the morning and switch to producing 100 tons of gradient color stripe yarn in the afternoon, reducing the changeover time from 4 hours to 1.5 hours. Behind this is the intelligent production system we invested 20 million yuan to upgrade last year, with full digital control from raw material proportioning to dyeing process, and the quality stability is 8% higher than the industry average.'

Thirty and 'Resilient': Being the 'Stabilizer' in the Industry Tide

From a small workshop in 1993 to a regional leader with 3 acrylic sliver production lines, 5 fancy yarn production lines, and an annual capacity of over 10,000 tons, Antai Textile's thirty years is exactly a microcosm of the development of China's acrylic fiber industry. Li Xiong remembers that when he first entered the industry, 80% of domestic acrylic yarn relied on imports. 'At that time, when we went to the Canton Fair, foreign customers didn't even look at domestic yarn, saying, "Your yarn has uneven thickness and patchy dyeing."' Today, Antai's products have long entered the supply chains of international brands such as ZARA and H&M, and last year, it obtained the EU's OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certification, becoming one of the few domestic enterprises capable of exporting high-end acrylic yarn.

"The secret? It's 'not following the trend, not speculating'," Li Xiong said, looking at the camphor tree planted in 1993 outside the factory window. "When the market is good, others rush to expand production capacity, but we invest money in R&D; when the market is bad, others lay off employees and cut salaries, but we instead increase skills training for employees. Just like this tree, only with deep roots can it withstand wind and rain."

Currently, Jilin Petrochemical's new plant is about to be put into operation, and a 'new variable' in the acrylonitrile market is brewing. Li Xiong and Director Huang's 'iron triangle' meeting is being prepared again, with the topics already listed: How to optimize the raw material structure using the new supply? How to layout overseas customers in advance in response to potential export opportunities brought by tariff negotiations? 'The industry will always have fluctuations, but for Antai, opportunities are hidden in fluctuations,' Li Xiong said firmly, closing his notebook. 'What we need to do is continue to refine and specialize in the acrylic fiber line, so that when customers think of "stability", "innovation", and "reliability", they think of Antai Textile.'

In the workshop, a new batch of 'Iridescent Chenille' yarn is being wound into bobbins, glowing softly in the sunlight. These yarns, carrying the wisdom of Antai people, are about to embark on a journey to be woven into thousands of beautiful garments – and on the land of Zhangjiagang, this thirty-year-old enterprise is greeting every changing tomorrow with unwavering focus.