The Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre, DMCC, has confirmed that the development of its new 7,500 sq.m. DMCC Coffee Centre, close to Jebel Ali Port harbour, is underway, marked by a ceremony attended by the Chinese companies, Mega Capital Halal, MCH, and Yunnan State Farms Group.

The DMCC Coffee Centre, a temperature-controlled facility, will offer infrastructure and services for storage, processing, warehousing and delivery of coffee, to precise specifications.

Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of DMCC, said, "There are few things more satisfactory than when a partnership of this scale with MCH and Yunnan State Farms comes to fruition, especially when it benefits our trading community here in Dubai as well as connecting right into China’s ambitious trade programme and corridor, the new Belt and Road. The Coffee Centre also marks an important milestone for DMCC and Dubai, as once it is ready in 2018, we will be the first in the UAE with the capacity to handle up to 20,000 tonnes of green coffee beans at a value of up to US$100 million annually".

A report recently released by the International Coffee Organisation confirmed that global exports of coffee in the year 2016/17 increased by 4.8 percent to 122.45 million bags compared to 116.89 million bags in the previous year. The UAE sits at the centre of a region which now accounts for 8 percent of the trade, or US$6.5 billion of the US$85 billion global consumer spend on coffee. According to Euromonitor International, this could increase by up to a third by 2030.

Matthew Pang, Director of MCH, said, "Dubai is a key international gateway for trade as it connects the producing countries with the consumer as seamlessly as possible. DMCC comes with a strong track-record in enabling this process from infrastructure-build through to trade facilitation, and our partnership will no doubt bring a much consumed commodity to Dubai and beyond."