To check a Morbi exporter's history, verify its official registrations, look at shipment records under its name, ask for documents from past export orders, and speak to buyers it has shipped to. Then check that the company that exports is the same company that owns the plant.
Each check on its own can be faked or misleading. Together they give you a reliable picture of whether the company really exports, to where and how often.
Check the official registrations
Start with the public records. The names and addresses on them should match each other, the contract and the plant you visit. If the IEC address is an office in town and the plant is under a different company, ask why.
- The Importer Exporter Code (IEC): India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade lets you verify an IEC online, showing the registered company name and address.
- The GST registration: the public taxpayer search on the GST portal shows the legal name, trade name, business address and whether the registration is active.
- The company's corporate registration, if it is a private or public limited company, which shows directors and incorporation date.
Look at shipment records
Commercial trade data services sell records built from customs and bill of lading data in many countries. They can show whether a company has shipped tiles under its own name, to which countries and roughly how often. Coverage varies by country, and some shipments appear under a forwarder's name, so treat gaps with care.
A company with no shipments under its name may still be a real factory that exports through a related trading company or a merchant exporter. That is common in Morbi. It is not wrong, but you need to know who will be the seller on your documents.
Ask for evidence from past orders
- Copies of recent bills of lading or shipping bills with buyer names and prices blacked out.
- Export test reports and certificates issued for specific shipments.
- Loading photos from recent containers, with container numbers visible.
- Two or three buyer references in markets like yours, which you contact yourself.
Red flags
- The company will not share its IEC or GST number, or the numbers belong to a different name.
- The GST registration was issued very recently, yet the company claims many years of exports.
- References are only by email or messaging, and none can be reached by phone at a real business.
- Bank details point to an account in a different name from the contract.
Link the exporter to the plant
The final check is that the exporting company owns and runs the press lines and kilns. Visit or have someone visit unannounced. Compare the company name on the gate, the electricity and gas connections, the GST address and the export documents. How to tell a tile trader from a factory and what a factory audit should contain cover the plant side.
Next step
We run these checks for you, visit the plant and give you a written audit before you commit. To check a supplier you are already talking to, book a free sourcing review.