Commodity flows are datasets created by aggregating AIS, Fixtures, Vessel Lineups,  Bill of Lading data, and a variety of other datasets to map cargo types and quantities to specific vessels.

Once this has been done, it’s possible to work out the flows from one location to another by combining the cargoes in and out, enabling both a highly granular and high-level overview of the supply of commodities. For example, an end user could easily search for the volume of a commodity into a specific country/port from another country/port.

This process originated in crude oil, but has subsequently expanded to include LNG, Dry Bulk (Including Agricultural Commodities), and other wet cargoes (Petroleum products, chemicals etc).

More recently, the suppliers of this data have been able to augment these flows with predictions, so where it is impossible to obtain any of the input data, they can provide an estimate based on the previous behaviours, amongst other datapoints, to provide an estimate.

Benefits:

Providing this level of granularity across multiple commodities and regions allows for much more insight into a wide range of decisions.

As these systems work from the vessel up, they’re hugely flexible.

Drawbacks:

Can be limited by the input data and modelling processes. For example, if calculations are made by vessel draught to predict quantities this could be inaccurate.

These platforms are common, so the competitive advantage of the data could be diminished in specific markets.