AgbioTrade – Methodology

Methodology

Our methodology combines comprehensive global trade data with expert chemical classification and validation to deliver accurate, actionable insight into the movement of agrochemical intermediates and fine chemicals.

Sources

Agbiolnvestor utilises customs data from a number of sources, depending on the country market. The bulk of data are derived from the online trade data aggregator, Datamyne, which covers the USA, India, Russia, Central and South America and some South East Asian countries. For Chinese trade, Agbiolnvestor purchases data for the primary Chinese trade data supplier, CCM, which was selected for the quality of its data and strong reputation in the industry. In some countries, data are available for public sources such as Ministries of Agriculture and Pesticide Regulation, industry associations or customs databases.

Agbiolnvestor is constantly evaluating new data suppliers to increase market coverage, with data quality a key consideration.

CCM – KComber Inc.
The leading source of China trade data.
http://www.cnchemicals.com/

Datamyne – Descartes Inc.
Global trade data aggregator.
https://www.descartes.com/datamyne

Data Processing

Once the raw trade data are downloaded, Agbiolnvestor analysts spend a significant amount of time processing the data. The data available from customs in most cases requires identification of agrochemical products from a detailed description. Pesticide Registration databases, internet searches and information from product descriptions are first used to identify agrochemical brands or technical material. Any non-agrochemical products such as rodenticides, domestic pesticides, disinfectants, biocides, pharmaceutical and animal health products are removed from the dataset, whilst any product that exhibits pesticidal activity and has application in protecting crops, turf or pasture are included.

Once products have been identified, Agbiolnvestor analysts identify related information such as active ingredients and their concentration in the formulation, brand owner and manufacturer (where possible). This information is then used to calculate the Active Volume of each active ingredient in formulated and technical material so that data can be summed across countries, products etc., with one Kg in AgbioTrade

representing a Kg of active ingredient. Active price and value are aslo calculated from the formulation, including from mixture products where the sum of each Al leads to the total sales of the mixture product. No attempt is made to estimate the cost of inerts and the ‘value’ of the formulation. Product identification, identification of related information and normalisation of these datasets requires a signifcant amount of time, and AgbioTrade represents hundreds of analyst hours.

Search Methodology

Agrochemicals are generally reported under two primary ‘HS Codes’ (a universal classification system of commodities traded on the global market), namely:

3808: “insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides, anti-sprouting products and plant-growth regulators, disinfectants and similar products, put up in forms or packings for retail sale or as preparations or articles”. With some exceptions, most countries report formulated material under this HS code.
29: “Organic chemicals”. This HS code contains a significant number of chemical products, and technical material is usually reported under this code.

Agbiolnvestor searches customs databases for the above codes. For HS3808, all results under this code are downloaded for evaluation. For HS29, due to the large number of chemicals included Agbiolnvestor searches for hundreds of terms related to agrochemicals, including active ingredient names in English and local languages; general terms such as Herbicide, Insecticide etc.; and company names. Although 100% coverage can never realistically be achieved, this approach covers a significant proportion of agrochemical trade.

It is well understood in the industry that agrochemical trade can be mis-reported for example under the wrong HS code, or using mis-spelled names. As a result, Agbiolnvestor is taking an approach of continual improvement to the data in AgbioTrade, and if any concerns are raised regarding the data, we will endeavor to investigate in order to improve the dataset as well as our search string for future updates.

Data Coverage

Not all countries make product level customs data available. EU countries, Australia, Japan and South Korea are key agrochemical manufacturing nations which do not make such data available, and analysis of customs data from other countries must be relied upon to inform trade from these nations.

AgbioTrade currently covers the leading manufacturing and importing nations, as well as a number of more minor markets. AgbioInvestor is continually evaluating new sources of data, and we aim to add additional countries and features as the product develops.

Specialists in the Agrochemical Market | Biologicals Market | Seeds & Traits Industries