The Dubai Tea Trading Centre (DTTC), a division of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), has announced it is launching a centralised tea storage, blending and packing facility, as part of its expansion plans to accommodate the growing activities of the centre.

The 23,000 sq m facility will also include office space for tea businesses, and is planned to be fully operationally by early 2008.   The centre’s expansion will further help boost the volume of tea traded through Dubai, according to DTTC officials.
Dr David Rutledge, DMCC’s CEO, said: “The DTTC has made a significant contribution to the establishment of Dubai as an international hub for tea trading. Dubai’s total tea trade in the first two months of this year touched 18.3 million kg, up from 16.2 million kg during the same period in 2006. Trade through the DTTC in multi-origin teas, reached 2.1 million kg during the first quarter of 2007, compared to 1 million kg for the same period last year.”
Dubai’s total tea trade was a record 105.5 million kg in 2006, up from 96.6 million kg in 2005. In the same period, 4.3 million kg of multi-origin teas was transacted through the DTTC, almost doubling the trade figures for the previous 10 months.
Rutledge said the DTTC, which was established in 2005 and began operations in March of the same year, had considerably increased the volume of trade in multi-origin teas through Dubai. The expansion, he commented, was the result of the growing market demand for a centralised one-stop hub, which would provide a variety of value-added services to the tea trade in the country.
A noteworthy addition to the existing capabilities of the DTTC, the new facility will offer dedicated individual storage space, free storage for 60 days, and temperature-controlled blending and packing facilities for a wide range of teas under one roof.
Sanjay Sethi, head of the DTTC, said Dubai was ideally positioned to provide the one-stop solution sought by members of the global tea trade, as it was neither a producer nor a significant consumer of tea.
“Given the value-added services offered by the DTTC, we are confident that we can attract more members, and further grow the volume of multi-origin teas traded through Dubai. The launch of the expanded facility is a win-win move that will benefit tea companies, consumers and the regional economy. Indeed, we are already in discussions with several international tea companies that have expressed a strong interest in utilising the new facility,” he added.
Under the new umbrella, the DTTC will also extend the services of the Dubai Commodity Receipt (DCR) to tea traders who store goods at dedicated warehouses within the centre. 
The DCR is an electronic warehouse receipt system operated by the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, which facilitates the financing of trade on a secured basis. Members who store their physical commodity assets in a DMCC-approved warehouse or assign control over their goods to an approved collateral manager can be issued a DCR against the value of that commodity. The warehouse receipt can be used to obtain financing from DCR member banks.
Since its inception in early 2005, the DTTC has expanded its range to process 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 presently facilitates sales with buyers in the GCC countries, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and CIS region and has plans to expand its services to other markets.
The DTTC, rated ‘A’ by Standard & Poor’s, is situated close to Dubai’s Ports and offers business centre, storage and blending solutions for international tea producers and buyers. DTTC members include tea producers, exporters, regional importers and international merchants. DTTC’s current location is at an existing warehouse facility within the Jebel Ali Free Zone.