Taiwan’s sportswear and functional textile exports will get a boost with the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August this year. Nike is going to source water-free dyeing fabric for the Olympic games in Taiwan. Taiwanese textile mills might also get busy supplying Adidas before the Olympics, as during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, all Adidas-sponsored teams wore sportswear made in Taiwan from recycled polyester.

The bulk of polyester orders would go the New Wide Group, a Taiwan manufacturer of knitted fabrics, who was awarded last year for supplying fabrics and garment to Adidas. There are between 20 and 25 Taiwanese textile mills capable of turning recycled PET bottles into fiber acceptable for high-quality filament. Demand for sportswear and functional textiles remains strong, even while orders for other textile categories are cut.

Formosa Taffeta is supplying water-free dyed fabrics to Nike for the Olympics. For this, Formosa Taffeta will be using Aquaoff supercritical Co2 technology, which can dissolve dyes, taking them to the surface of the fabric for dyeing, so that water and dyeing auxiliaries are not required.

Another company is supplying water-free dyed lightweight fabrics with stretch quality for shorts and windbreakers to Nike for the Olympics.