Playbooks, classification notes and market briefs
Short, practical reading for people who have to turn shipment records into deals, sourcing decisions and reports.
Latest articles
Building an Importer Shortlist from Shipment Records
A repeatable method for turning a six-digit HS code and a target country into twenty buyers worth calling.
Reading a Bill of Lading Record Field by Field
What each column on a manifest record means, what it can and cannot tell you, and the traps to avoid.
HS Code Changes and What They Do to Your Data
The Harmonized System is revised every five years. Here is how to keep a time series honest across a revision.
What we write about
Three themes come up again and again with customers, so they shape most of what is published here. First, finding counterparties: how to go from a tariff code to a ranked list of importers, and how to tell an active buyer from a one-off shipment. Second, verifying them: reading a bill of lading or a customs declaration field by field, and cross-checking a supplier's claims against its export history. Third, understanding markets: sizing demand from shipment counts and values, tracking price movements by lane, and reading HS classification changes before they affect your duty bill.
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