Shipping and Supply Chain Data
Vessel tracking, freight rates, customs and port data reveal global trade flows. Learn the main sources, indices like the Baltic Dry and how traders use them.
Most of the world's goods travel by sea. Every tanker, bulk carrier and container ship broadcasts its position, and every shipment generates records at ports and customs offices. Shipping and supply chain data turns this activity into signals about commodity supply, trade flows, manufacturing and inflation pressures. Commodity traders, macro investors and equity analysts use it to see trade patterns before official statistics are published.
Main data sources#
| Source | What it shows |
|---|---|
| AIS (Automatic Identification System) | Real time positions, speeds and destinations of vessels |
| Bills of lading and customs records | What was shipped, by whom, to whom (for example, US import records) |
| Port data | Congestion, waiting ships, container throughput |
| Freight rates | Cost of shipping goods and commodities |
| Satellite imagery | Ships, ports and stockpiles. See Satellite, Foot Traffic and Geolocation Data |
| Trade statistics | Official monthly import and export data |
Freight rate indices#
| Index | Measures |
|---|---|
| Baltic Dry Index (BDI) | Cost of shipping dry bulk commodities such as iron ore, coal and grain |
| Container indices (Drewry World Container Index, Freightos Baltic Index, Shanghai Containerized Freight Index) | Cost of shipping containers on major routes |
| Tanker rates | Cost of shipping crude oil and refined products |
How traders use shipping data#
- Oil: tracking tanker movements shows exports from producers such as Saudi Arabia or Russia, and how much oil is floating at sea. See Crude Oil.
- Sanctions monitoring: analysts track "dark fleet" tankers that switch off AIS transponders to avoid sanctions.
- Agriculture: grain shipments from the US, Brazil, Ukraine and Russia. See Agricultural Markets.
- Metals: iron ore shipments from Australia and Brazil to China.
- Macro: container volumes and port activity as indicators of global trade and manufacturing. See PMI.
- Equities: customs records show a company's shipments, suppliers and customers.
Supply chain stress indicators#
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York publishes the Global Supply Chain Pressure Index, combining shipping costs and purchasing manager survey components. It surged to record highs in late 2021 and has been used to track how supply chain disruptions feed into inflation.
Chokepoints and disruptions#
Shipping data highlights vulnerabilities at key chokepoints:
| Chokepoint | Example disruption |
|---|---|
| Suez Canal | The container ship Ever Given blocked the canal for six days in March 2021 |
| Red Sea and Bab el Mandeb | Attacks on ships from late 2023 forced many vessels to reroute around Africa, raising costs and transit times |
| Panama Canal | Drought in 2023 reduced the number of ships allowed through |
| Strait of Hormuz | A large share of seaborne oil passes through it |
Limits#
- AIS gaps: transponders can be switched off or spoofed.
- Lags and revisions in customs data.
- Interpretation: a ship's destination may change en route.
- Freight rates reflect both demand and supply (ship availability), so they are not pure demand signals.
- Cost: high quality vessel and trade data is expensive.
Frequently asked questions#
What is the Baltic Dry Index?#
An index of the cost of shipping dry bulk commodities such as iron ore, coal and grain, often watched as a gauge of global trade and commodity demand.
How do traders use ship tracking data?#
To monitor commodity exports and imports, floating storage, sanctions evasion and trade flows in near real time.
Why did shipping costs spike in 2021?#
Surging demand for goods, port congestion and disrupted supply chains during the pandemic pushed container shipping rates to record levels.
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