The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) is redoubling a push to expand its role in the global trade of coffee and tea. With the Covid-19 pandemic receding in most of the world, the DMCC in early December opened a handsome lounge for display and sampling of teas and coffees processed in the DMCC Tea Centre and DMCC Coffee Centre.
DMCC bills the Centres as "purpose-built infrastructure of processing facilities, market venues, business services and a growing community of producers, trading parties and entrepreneurs." Besides coffee and tea, DMCC also handles business in a wide variety of other commodities including gold, gems, oil, steel and major agricultural products.
The DMCC became a powerhouse in tea before expanding into coffee. Since it was set up in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in 2005, the Tea Centre has helped make the United Arab Emirates the world's largest tea re-export gateway. Now the Tea Centre and Coffee Centre aim to "triple output, increase services, and boost capacity,” while creating more value locally.
A press release describes the lounge as “a hub that allows people to experience the different flavors of the purpose-built facilities with world-class processing capabilities and business services that facilitate trade. As a result, both facilities have become home to growing communities of producers, traders, and entrepreneurs across all elements of the tea and coffee value chains.” The showroom is located at DMCC's headquarters at Almas Towers, a 68-story skyscraper in the Jumeirah Lakes District.
Clients of the DMCC are handling a big rise in demand for orthodox processed tea, procuring significantly greater quantities from India for blending and export. The UAE imported 28.6 million kilograms of Indian tea during the first nine months this year, a 159% increase compared to the same period in 2021.
“"It is good to see that UAE is now importing Indian tea in a big way," an Indian exporter recently told the Economic Times. Dubai has bought 17% of India’s total exports so far this year.
Dubai earned $152 million in 2021 for tea exports, shipping tea to 154 countries. Most customers are within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The DMCC set up the DMCC Tea Centre in 2006. By 2012, Dubai had become the primary destination for African tea producers, especially Kenya. DMCC soon began re-exporting tea at a pace that challenged the Sri Lankan tea industry’s well-established blending and packaging capabilities.
DMCC executive chairman and CEO Ahmed bin Sulayem announced the plans to triple capacity in 2020. “Situated at the world’s crossroads, Dubai is perfectly placed to grow its market share for commodity trading and the import and export of coffee, tea, and a whole range of other commodities,” bin Sulayem said. He described the Centre as a “solid eco-system of infrastructure and best-in-class services that will encourage more businesses to base their operations at DMCC.”