To shortlist international markets for potential suppliers, we would suggest you review these four resources.
If you are looking to source from abroad, we would suggest you review the following to compile a shortlist of potential countries:
However, move straight to the next phase of searching for International Suppliers.
Having drawn up your shortlist of countries (or if you already have a country shortlist), the next move is to look for suppliers in those countries.
This helps you to find those countries that are likely to be most competitive in the provision of the products you are interested in.
The Export Potential Map is a free tool that turns economic analysis into practical trade information. Using the Map’s customizable and shareable visualizations, you can spot products, markets and suppliers with (untapped) export potential.
You can search by: Products, Sub-Sectors, Sectors, Countries, Sub-Regions or Regions:
This helps you to find those countries that are the biggest exporters of the products you are interested in.
Trade Map provides - in the form of tables, graphs and maps - indicators on export performance, international demand, alternative markets and competitive markets, as well as a directory of importing and exporting companies. Trade Map covers 220 countries and territories and 5,300 products of the Harmonized System.
(N.B. If you search by product you will need to know the relevant Harmonized System product code.)
N.B. Users located in the U.K. have restricted access to Trade Map. Click here for free registration - which gives a wider access to Trade Map or to access the full versions of the tools click here to subscribe. ($900 p.a. for an Institutional License allowing all employees of the institution to create their own account based on the institution's email extension (domain).
Do any tariffs make importing goods from a particular country uneconomical? Before contracting to import, it is important to know what these are.
Apply any policy limitations your company has in relation to buying from abroad (e.g. distance, time zones, language etc.) You may like to browse the ExportersAlmanac Country Profiles to find those countries which fit these considerations.)
Here you can see that: