Market studies
The market, in filed numbers, before you commit
A commissioned study of one commodity in the markets you plan to enter: how much is imported and from where, what it lands at, which duties, standards and licences apply, who buys it, how it moves, and whether the volume you have in mind can be placed. Written from customs filings, tariff schedules and agency budgets, with a source on every figure.
What you receive
A written report of typically 40 to 60 pages per part, delivered as a PDF with document control, a contents page, and the sources and read dates listed at the end of every chapter. Figures from customs, tariff and price data are marked as such; the study's own build-ups are labelled estimates. No company is named in the report, and nothing in it is attributed to you.
Before any payment you receive a written preview: the chapter plan, the data we have already located for your markets, and where coverage is thin. You see what the report will contain before you decide.
Delivery is 7 to 10 working days from confirmation for a single-commodity, multi-country study. Larger scopes are split into parts so the first markets arrive first.
Standard chapters
- 1
Market size
Declared imports by year and origin from the destination country's customs filings, checked against the exporters' mirror data, so the volume is a filed number and not a trade-press estimate.
- 2
Origins, on paper and in fact
Where the product actually loads, which declared origins the exporters' records do not support, and what that means for the certificate of origin and conformity you should insist on.
- 3
Prices and landed cost
CIF averages by origin from customs declarations, current indications, and a line-by-line build-up to ex-depot: duty, levies, conformity fees, port, clearing, inland transport, VAT.
- 4
Duties, standards and licences
The tariff stack from the national schedule, the product standard and pre-shipment conformity route, and the import, storage and environmental licences a new entrant needs.
- 5
Demand
Consumption rebuilt from the programmes that use the product (road budgets, plant capacities, agency pipelines) and reconciled with the customs figure, so both numbers are shown.
- 6
Logistics
Port handling, corridor transit times, truck and rail rates to the inland markets, and which gateway serves which destination on cost.
- 7
Viability and next steps
Whether the volume you have in mind can be placed, at what cost and against which supply, a phased plan, working-capital estimate, and the numbers to obtain before capital is committed.
Where the numbers come from
- National customs filings and the UN Comtrade mirror from the exporting countries
- WTO and World Bank tariff schedules (WITS/TRAINS), national finance acts and gazettes
- National standards bodies: product standards, conformity assessment manuals and fee schedules
- Road agency, ministry and development-bank budgets, tenders and project pipelines
- Port authority tariffs, corridor observatories and freight indications
- World Bank commodity price series and trade-press price assessments, dated and cited
How it is scoped and priced
Each study is scoped from a short exchange by email: the commodity, the markets, the decision the report has to support and when you need it. We quote a fixed fee for that scope, in writing, with the preview. Payment is in advance by bank transfer or card; the report is delivered against the quoted timeline.
What a study is not
A desk study on published and filed data. It is not investment, legal or tax advice, and duties, standards and licence conditions should be confirmed with the authorities before acting. It does not name or introduce suppliers; sourcing is a separate mandate through the trade desk.
Who commissions one
Importers and distributors
Adding a product line or entering a new country, and needing the market size, the price floor and the licensing path before committing stock.
Contractors and manufacturers
Checking whether direct import beats local supply for a raw material, and what documented-origin product costs landed at their site.
Financiers and advisers
Needing an independent market section for a credit file or a feasibility study, with every figure sourced and every estimate labelled.
Exporters and producers
Sizing a new destination: who imports today, from where, at what declared price, and what a conformity certificate and local standard require.
Recent study
Bitumen 60/70 across nine East and Central African markets
Commissioned by a construction and trading company planning an import, storage and distribution hub at Mombasa for 5,000 t a month. Two parts, 67 pages, delivered from customs filings of nine countries and their exporters, tariff schedules, the conformity-assessment manual, road agency budgets and corridor data.
- The nine markets declared about 186,000 t of imports a year; the ones the proposed hub could actually reach consumed 80,000 to 120,000 t, all of it supplied today.
- Just over half of the home market's supply came from a sanctioned origin priced USD 70 to 100 a tonne below Gulf product, which set the price floor a legitimate importer had to sell against.
- Three declared origins were not supported by the exporting countries' own records, so the study recommended a conformity certificate tied to the loading refinery.
- The 5,000 t a month target was a year-three volume. The report recommended a phased drum-import entry at 1,500 to 2,500 t a month, leased tankage before any terminal, and two numbers to obtain before committing capital.
Scope a study
Tell us the commodity, the markets and the decision the report has to support. You will receive a written preview and a fixed quote by email.
For a firm price on a cargo rather than a study, use the Request a Quote form.