The Dubai Tea Trading Centre (DTTC), an initiative of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), has posted a record 6.2 million kilos of tea transacted in the first six months of 2010, up 26 per cent against the same period last year.

The overall tea trade through Dubai for the first six months of the year increased to 64.2 million kilos, an increase of 11.3 per cent from 58 million kilos, primarily due to favourable growing conditions resulting in higher production in most tea producing countries.

With the recent trend of higher production and favourable climatic conditions in the major producing countries, tea prices have been extremely volatile in the past few months, DTCC said in a statement.

However, the general trend still continues to remain buoyant as carry forward stocks are low and there is good demand, it added.

'Last year, global tea production saw a deficit of nearly 60 million kilos of tea due to drought in major tea-producing countries,' said Ahmed bin Sulayem, executive chairman, DMCC.

'However, the favourable climatic conditions in the first half of this year have led to an increased tea production by more than 107 million kilos.”

“At DMCC, we remain committed to increasing tea trade through Dubai and strengthening the emirate’s position as a major hub for global tea trade. Through our efforts, we are confident that Dubai will play a pivotal role in the supply chain for the industry,” he added.

Sanjay Sethi, director, DTTC, said: 'Since its inception in 2005, the centre has grown consistently, with increased transactions and global tea producers, merchant exporters and buyers establishing their base here.”

“As we continue to enhance our services for the trade, we have witnessed an increased demand for our value-added services such as blending, packaging of tea bags as well as loose tea in retail formats, storage facilities and office space for tea companies.”

Dubai remains the second largest export destination for both Indian and Sri Lankan tea. The DTTC presently stocks teas from 13 producing countries, including Kenya, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Nepal, China and Iran.

In keeping with its mandate to further increase the tea trade in and through Dubai, the DTTC also facilitates sales with buyers in the GCC countries, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Afghanistan, UK and the CIS countries and has plans to expand its services to other Middle East and European markets. – TradeArabia News Service