The challenge
A Mersin manufacturer of injection-moulded crates for the citrus export trade was buying polypropylene through Istanbul traders. Two years earlier, one of those traders had sold them Egyptian resin. The melt flow was off spec, a full production run of crates warped in the summer heat, and a Dutch citrus importer sent them back. From that day, Egyptian material was off the table. The buyer moved to Gulf supply with longer lead times and a trader margin they resented but accepted.
In Alexandria, a polymer producer had capacity, the right injection grade, and a port four days' sail from Mersin. They knew Turkey was the obvious market. But every approach went through the same Istanbul intermediaries, who had no reason to connect them directly with an end buyer. The producer's offers arrived in Mersin stripped of their technical data sheets and marked up twice. By the time we were introduced, the buyer's purchasing manager told us plainly that he'd take one call, as a favour.
What we did
- 01
Found out what actually went wrong
We spent that one call listening. The problem two years ago wasn't Egyptian resin. It was a trader who sold a film grade as injection grade and never shared the data sheet. We took that back to Alexandria in Arabic, and the producer's technical team confirmed the grade they actually make for crate applications. The same specification went to Mersin in Turkish and English, line by line, with nothing lost in between.
- 02
Ran a trial before anyone signed anything
Twenty pallets shipped for a machine trial at the Mersin plant, at the producer's cost. The buyer ran it on their own tooling, through a full summer-temperature test. Not one crate warped. That trial did more than any proposal could have.
- 03
Sorted the paperwork the crates would need in Rotterdam
The buyer's customers sell citrus into the EU, so the resin needed a declaration of compliance under the EU food-contact regulation for plastics. The Egyptian producer had never been asked for one. We worked with their quality team to put it together and had it reviewed from the EU side before the first order. We also set up EUR.1 origin certification so the resin entered Turkey duty free under the Turkey–Egypt Free Trade Agreement, instead of at the standard rate the trader route had been paying.
- 04
Built payment terms both sides could live with
The producer wanted security in dollars. The buyer was managing lira volatility and wanted time. We agreed 20% on order and the balance against documents for the first three shipments, moving to 60-day terms backed by credit insurance once the relationship had a track record. Both sides saw the cash-flow numbers in their own language before agreeing.
- 05
Stayed for the hard conversations
Polymer prices move every month. We set up a price formula indexed to a published regional benchmark, so the monthly conversation is about the formula, not about who blinked first. We were on the line for the first two repricings, and for the call when the buyer asked about a second grade for their pallet line.
The outcome
First full container left Alexandria eleven weeks after the first call. The buyer now takes regular monthly volume direct from the producer, with no trader in the middle and no rejected lots. The Istanbul margin went back into the buyer's pricing to their citrus customers.
- 4
- Days port to port, Alexandria to Mersin
- 0
- Rejected lots since the trial
- 3
- Languages in every conversation
“I took the first call to be polite. Mohammed asked what went wrong last time instead of telling me why I should buy. That's why there was a second call.”
What we'd do differently
We didn't check the holiday calendar on both sides. Eid al-Adha closed the plant in Alexandria and Kurban Bayramı closed the port in Mersin in the same week, and the first shipment slipped nine days into our schedule. Nobody was upset. But a buyer who had already been burned once didn't need another reason to doubt us. Now the first thing we map on any corridor is when both sides stop working.