You check a textile supplier's export history by confirming its importer-exporter code and GST registration, pulling its shipment records through a trade data service, and taking references from overseas buyers and from its bank. Together these tell you whether the supplier has actually exported, to which markets, in what volumes and how recently, rather than relying on the claims in a company profile. A supplier that has shipped garments to Europe or North America for years is a different risk from a domestic manufacturer trying export for the first time. Both can be good partners, but you should know which one you are dealing with before you price the risk.
Registrations that show the basics
Every Indian exporter needs an importer-exporter code issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. Ask for the code and the name it is registered under, and check that the name matches the company on the quotation and the bank account you will pay. A GST registration number confirms the business is a registered taxpayer and shows its registered address and state, which should match the factory you have been shown. Ask also for membership of the relevant export promotion council, which is usual for garment and home textile exporters.
These documents prove the supplier exists and is allowed to export. They do not prove that it has exported or that it manufactures what it sells, so treat them as the first step, not the last.
Shipment records and what to look for
- Trade data services compile Indian customs shipping bill data and can show a supplier's export shipments by product description, destination and period, with the level of detail varying by service.
- Look for consistency: regular shipments of the product category you are buying, to markets with similar compliance standards to yours, over several years.
- Look for gaps: a long pause in exports, a sudden change in product category, or shipments only to markets with light regulation, each of which deserves a question.
- Compare declared volumes with the factory capacity you were quoted. A supplier claiming a large capacity with a thin export record may be a trader or an agent for someone else's factory.
- Check the port pattern. Exporters around Ahmedabad and Surat typically ship through Mundra or Hazira, while Mumbai-based ones use the port nearest to them, and a mismatch with the stated factory location is worth asking about.
References from buyers and banks
Ask for two or three overseas customers who will take a call, ideally in your own market, and ask them specific questions: on-time delivery, claim handling, whether the goods matched the samples and whether they have reordered. A supplier who cannot offer any reference after years of claimed exports is a concern. A bank reference, requested through your own bank, confirms how long the account has been held and that the business is in good standing, without disclosing balances.
Finally, visit the factory or have someone you trust visit it. Export history tells you what the company shipped in the past. A walk through the cutting room, sewing lines and finishing section tells you whether the same company can make your order now.
How we handle it
At Creston & Co we verify a supplier's registrations, shipment record and references before we introduce it, and we visit the factory ourselves. Because we work for you rather than for the factory, our report on a supplier is the same whether or not you go on to place an order. If you have a shortlist you want checked, we offer a free 20-minute sourcing review.