Trade information can be an essential tool when choosing and managing overseas business opportunities. A trade database can reveal the details of global buying and selling that can help companies find out:

• Who is buying
• Who is selling
• What goods are being transported
• Where they're being transported to and from

Trade data is based on the manifests and bills of lading (see examples) that document import-export activity; it provides a wealth of detail including:

• Name and location of shipper
• Product quantity
• U.S. and overseas port name
• Packaging information

Once the data is collected, it can be translated into the kind of meaningful intelligence that can help buyer and supplier alike.

Find new customers and markets
Who's in the market for what you have to sell? Trade data helps you identify companies that are buying products or services like yours. You can review the volumes and purchasing patterns of your current customer accounts to discover more selling opportunities.

Locate new suppliers
Expand your base of suppliers, identifying companies around the world that sell the raw materials, processing services or products that you purchase. Find potential new suppliers by price, size, sales volume, customer base, location and market access.

Track your competition
Use trade data to give you the complete picture of the top players in your product or service sector and your target markets. You can monitor their sales, volumes and customers. Trade data can show manufacturers where they are gaining or losing in export markets, while gauging the competitive impact of imported products at home.

Monitor compliance issues
It's a big world: A lot can happen after cargo leaves port. Track cargo movements to monitor your trading partners' compliance with contracts and regulatory requirements.

Understand global trade
Strategic planning on a global scale requires a grasp of the complete panorama of trade flows and volumes, saturated markets and spiking demand, historic trends and reliable forecasts. Successful execution requires that you continually validate your business model with real-world data, refining your tactics as they yield results, or adjusting your course as old markets play out and new markets emerge.

To see how other companies have used trade information to support their global strategies, read these recent business applications:

• Remote Sourcing
• Tricks of the Investigator's Trade
• Shortcut to Settlement
• Cleared for Takeoff