I found my suppliers through Alibaba.com and it has been the only website of help to me ever since.

Finding raw materials is key to the business of Mardia Metals & Polymers, a Chennai-based importer and trader of raw plastics. Not only does it need to look for new vendors to sustain its supplies, but it also has to explore more products to expand its revenue streams. Alibaba.com is a major channel which helps it meet these needs.

"I started Mardia Metals & Polymers in February 2007 with my dad. Although he has 20 years of experience in the raw plastic materials business, he used old-fashioned business channels like telephone and face-to-face meetings only and he merely had deals with regular suppliers in Malaysia. Since I introduced the Internet to our business, we have expanded our supplier base to other countries and discovered new plastic products to add to our portfolio," said Vivek Mardia, owner of Mardia Metals & Polymers.

Vivek's father used to trade in plastics such as polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate and polyphenylene sulfide. As a result of using Alibaba.com, Vivek successfully introduced new products like low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene and polypropylene, and significantly increased his sales. The company is now the sole supplier of a kind of recycled plastics originated from Korea and is identifying opportunities to become the exclusive distributor for certain European suppliers in India.

Vivek added: "I found my suppliers through Alibaba.com and it has been the only website of help to me ever since."