The Dubai Tea Trading Centre (DTTC), an initiative of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, posted 62 per cent growth in the first half of 2009, transacting 4.2 million kilos of tea compared to 2.6 million in the same period of 2008.

Although DTTC’s trade volumes witnessed favourable growth, the overall tea trade through Dubai witnessed a drop in the first five months of 2009. This comes on the back of the global decline in production, which has generally been affected due to drought and delayed rainfall in major tea-producing countries.

In line with the decline in global tea production, overall tea trade through Dubai fell to 48.8 million kilos in the first five months in 2009, compared to 66.6 million kilos in the same period in 2008.

Sri Lanka, India and Kenya remained Dubai’s top trading partners, contributing over 65 per cent of the total tea trade through Dubai.

From January to May 2009, the cumulative production of black tea in six major producing countries saw a decline of 14 per cent, or 87 million kilos, from 621 million kilos in 2008 to 534 million kilos during the same period in 2009.

India, the largest producer of black teas, is lower in crop by 11 per cent in comparison to a similar period last year, while Sri Lanka and Kenya are lower by 29 and 16 per cent respectively. This has resulted in a considerable shortfall of teas produced in the first five months of this year.

Limited production resulted in supply and demand imbalance, leading to price volatility. As of June 2009, the average selling prices in the Kolkata auctions stood at INR134.76 ($2.81), in Guwahati auction at INR125.75 ($2.62), Colombo auctions at LKR358.77 ($3.12) and Mombasa auctions at $2.45 per kilo of tea.

Comparing these prices with those in December 2008, prices in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya increased 30.1 per cent, 68 per cent and 39.2 per cent respectively.

“Although this has been a challenging year for the tea trade worldwide, DTTC has seen exceptional growth,” said Sanjay Sethi, Director, DTTC.

“Our continuous efforts to increase trade through DTTC have proved fruitful. The value-added services such as blending and packaging in our new facility are making DTTC more appealing for international tea traders,” he added.

“The centre is growing consistently, with increased transactions and major global tea producers establishing their base here. As we work closely with tea producers, merchant exporters and buyers to further grow the volume of trade through the region, we are committed to strengthening Dubai’s position as a major hub for global tea trade.”

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