Trade Intelligence
How to check trade information
A trade figure without its source and date is an opinion. Offport’s intelligence is designed so every figure carries the four things you need to judge it.
Four questions for any figure
Before acting on a market figure — a price range, a volume, a trend — it is worth asking:
- Source: who produced it, and do they have the right to publish it?
- Observed: when was it true?
- Basis: what does it measure — which product definition, Incoterm, unit and geography?
- Limitations: what does it leave out?
Conflicts are information
When two sources disagree, both should be shown with their sources. Silently averaging them hides exactly the uncertainty a decision-maker needs to see.
Where evidence does not exist, the honest display is “not available” — not an estimate dressed as data.
What it means
- Treat any undated or unsourced figure with caution.
- Compare like with like: same unit, Incoterm and product definition.
Limitations
- Check the source, coverage and relevance of information before relying on it.
Sources
This article draws on Offport’s own approach and general trade practice; it cites no external data.