Over the past five years, Atraco have held a stellar reputation through upholding good business practice and ethics in all of their business dealings.
DELIVERING ON THE ATRACO PROMISE
Atraco International (K) Limited is a General Commodity International Trading Company and is one of East Africa’s foremost suppliers of road and civil construction products and technology. The in-house trading company was incorporated in Kenya in September 2012 and was to operate as the holding entity of their sister company, Hanse International Ltd. (incorporated in Kenya on July 2009). Hanse was already a trading company that had vast experience in Commodity Trading in Europe, Asia and parts of Africa.
“In essence, Atraco is an off shoot of Hanse and has taken over some of the operations in East Africa,” says Atraco Regional Managing Director, Rita Bochere. “We specialise in the supply of building materials such as bitumen and steel products to our clients. These complimentary activities are aimed at assisting road authorities, consulting engineers and contractors in building roads and structures of the highest quality. We recognise that infrastructure, especially a good road network, is a nation’s most strategic asset,” she adds.
The supply of these materials is accompanied by highly qualified staff , who apply years of industry experience and support Atraco’s mission to provide its customers with products manufactured to the highest standards, enabling them to build roads and housing for the future. Atraco International Kenya Limited offers a full service from its offices in Nairobi and Istanbul, Turkey. The company has strong business partners and reliable manufacturing sources worldwide, enabling Atraco to provide sustainable, cost effective solutions and quality products.
“The great need for a regional offi ce in Nairobi became apparent due to the increase in the demand for European and Middle Eastern products via our online service,” explains Bochere. “With the onset of the East African Community Common Market, we believe that our presence in this region makes even more business sense.” As a consequence of their strong market presence in Kenya and Uganda, Atraco have been able to break into and tap the markets in Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia.
THE ATRACO APPROACH
Over the past five years, Atraco have held a stellar reputation through upholding good business practices and ethics in all of their business dealings. “We try to understand the local market, to source for competitive products at the best price and to deliver promptly. Our customers are very important to us. Client requirements always come first,” cites Bochere.
Further, in order to develop and maintain long lasting relationships with clients, Atraco focus on how to best meet and service their specific needs, both individually and professionally. “We are attentive and ensure that all legal processes are followed – right from product ordering, inspection, handling, shipping, payment of import duty and taxes, clearing, storage and transporting to site, to the eventual benefit of our client. This is supported by the right paperwork,” emphasises Bochere. Moreover, Atraco as a trading house does not limit their product range to building materials only, more information regarding trade-ins can be found on their website: www.atracointl.com.
Not only does the company demonstrate attention to detail throughout all their processes, Atraco International (K) Ltd never compromise on quality as Bochere reasons: “We believe that to be competitive in the world market, we need to produce a world-class service against genuine products in line with competitive pricing. Our vision is to become a market leader in general commodity trading, both locally and internationally.”
SHIPPING KNOWLEDGE
One of the keys to Atraco’s success in trading business has been the company’s broad knowledge of shipping and logistics. “This is one way we have been able to differentiate ourselves and beat our competitors,” Bochere continues: “We have been fully trained with complete shipping knowledge as well as international business terms. Henceforth, we accompany our shipments with the fastest possible delivery times. Our major shareholder and CEO of the organisation, Mr Ahmet Aydin, has over 25 years experience in international trading. Shipping is one of the major parts of our international business. A successful shipping time will result in the successful delivery of our products.” Bochere further stated that lead times for delivering of products from point A to point B herald the same level of importance as providing good quality product: “We can now easily identify which shipping line is more qualified for our territory or our client’s territory, at the right price.”
Through a close and intimate relationship that Atraco’s staff have built up with shipping companies over the years, the company are able to trace their cargo at any time, which means they can provide a detailed outlook for various shipping-related inquiries, further improving Atraco’s customer service; these include being able to provide:
- COD (Change of Destination) before cargo arrives at the final destination;
- BL Switch at trans-shipment ports;
- Extra free storage period at destination port;
- Leasing the containers at a right price for a particular period of time. Atraco’s freight levels have so far proven to be the best among their competitors.
Atraco offer sustainable services, without compromising on quality. “We always deliver on our promises and honour our commitments. That is the Atraco way,” Bochere surmises. With a significant amount of expertise in international trading, Atraco will continue to work with clients in order to provide much-needed improvements to infrastructure both in East Africa and internationally.
