Sourcing from China
When I started Cayley Chemicals back in 1987 China was just developing its chemical industry. Prior to ’87 China exported some basic chemical raw materials but the quality was terrible. However, just as I started Cayley, China got its act together and quality Chemical products started to become available.
This timing was very fortuitous for us. We took advantage by being the first exporter of Chinese chemicals into South Africa. Chinese prices were a lot lower than European prices. We purchased Chinese Chemicals ex TR International in London (they gave us credit) and sold to all the main RSA importers: Protea, Crest, Petrow, CIM etc. Since 1992 we have purchased directly from China as our balance sheet was strong enough. To get the best deals in China it is usually necessary to pay up front or against emailed documents.
Now all the main South African importers buy directly from China and most have a Chinese office. However for the rest of Africa there was an opportunity for us. The reason being that most buyers in the rest of Africa are not big enough to justify having their own Chinese office and they need our expertise to ensure all the export paperwork complies with their import regulations.
In most of the developing world export paperwork requirements are very exacting. Any errors can be costly with potential fines and hold ups at customs and even worse the inability of the customer to pay as the paperwork is non-compliant. Quality and reliability of Chinese raw material Chemicals is good but there are still many fraudulent suppliers about – we use our extensive knowledge and contacts to only source from top quality reliable factories.
