DUBAI, Sept 22: Dubai’s tea trading centre DTCC said on Saturday it was on target to reach a volume of 5.5 million kg this year, up 27.9 per cent from 2006, on growing Middle East demand.

The Dubai Tea Trading Centre (DTTC), which is part of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), is seeking to position itself as a hub for blending and storing multi-origin teas.

It said 18.3 million kg of tea passed through Dubai in the first two months of 2007, up from 16.2 million kg during the same period last year.

“We are still on target to achieve a volume of 5.5 kg of tea in 2007, and we have grown significantly during the course of the year,” DTTC director Sanjay Sethi told Reuters on Saturday.

In 2006, a total of 105.5 million kg of tea passed through the Gulf emirate, up from 96.6 million the previous year.

The Dubai centre’s target markets in the Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States made up 44 per cent of global tea imports in 2005.

From its inception in March 2005 to the end of last year, the centre stocked and traded about 6.7 million kg of tea.

Kenya’s tea production fell 5.4 per cent to 310.6 million kg in 2006 due to drought but export income over the year rose 11.8 per cent to 47.3 billion shillings ($672.8 million).—Reuters