Iraqi Basra Trading Co. (IBC)

Iraqi Basra Trading Co. (LLC), known as IBC, is a trading company based in Basra and one of the companies of the Haj Abood Al-Khalidi & Sons Group for Trading and Contracting (HAKS Group), which presents it on its website under the "Commodities, Foodstuff and General Trading" activity. The site states that the company was established in 2003, has 55 permanent employees and is located on Al-Wofood Street in Basra. The company says its first activity is wholesale supply and distribution, and according to the site it has three warehouses with a total net storage surface of 8,000 m². It states that one of its goals is to provide better-quality products to consumers in southern Iraq, and that it targets the bigger international markets to build a direct bridge from producers to market shelves in Iraq. It also says it is flexible in collecting payment from its customers and very active in delivery, warehousing and loading/unloading, and that this mode of distribution has boosted sales and customer satisfaction. In food, the company describes itself as one of the pioneer companies in importing and distributing palm oil, sunflower oil, blended oil, vegetable ghee, sesame, legumes and peas, rice, tomato paste and natural fruit juices. The site does not name the food brands it distributes. Among its other activities is exporting Iraqi products, mainly dates and date products, to customers abroad. The company says its policy rests on product quality, product health and safety, and efficiency; that everything it trades complies with Iraqi and international standards; and that all its imported materials are inspected by a third party (Bureau Veritas or TÜV) at the port of delivery or in the country of origin. It adds that it keeps solid records tracing its warehousing, distribution logs and storage conditions, and follows its goods through to its wholesale customers' stores.