The tools to control global trade

Controlling and trading in global markets, particularly in commodities, shipping, and finance, involves leveraging various tools and platforms that provide data, analytics, and real-time insights. Based on your query and the provided context, you seem to be referring to tools or platforms that facilitate monitoring, analyzing, and managing global trade, specifically mentioning S&P Global Platts, Refinitiv IKON, Marine Traffic, Maxar, Freight Waves, TradingView, and Vortexa. Below, I’ll address the number of tools listed and provide an overview of their roles in global trade, while also considering other relevant tools that might be used to “control” or influence trade.

Number of Tools Listed

You’ve explicitly mentioned seven tools/platforms:

  1. S&P Global Platts
  2. Refinitiv IKON
  3. Marine Traffic
  4. Maxar
  5. Freight Waves
  6. TradingView
  7. Vortexa

These platforms are primarily focused on providing data, analytics, and intelligence for trading and monitoring global trade flows, particularly in commodities like oil, gas, and shipping.

Overview of the Listed Tools and Their Role in Global Trade

Each of these platforms serves a specific function in facilitating or “controlling” trade by providing critical data and insights for decision-making:

  1. S&P Global Platts:
    • Role: A leading provider of commodity market data, price assessments, and analytics, particularly for energy, metals, and petrochemicals. Its tools like the Global Trade Atlas, Maritime & Trade, and Platts Freight Market Outlook Analytics Service offer detailed trade flow data, ship tracking, and freight market forecasts.
    • Use in Trade: Enables traders, shippers, and analysts to monitor global trade flows, forecast demand, and make informed pricing and shipping decisions.
  2. Refinitiv IKON:
    • Role: Part of LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), Refinitiv IKON provides real-time financial and commodity market data, including shipping and trade analytics. It competes with S&P Global in vessel tracking and commodity flow analysis.
    • Use in Trade: Offers insights into market trends, commodity flows, and financial instruments, helping traders optimize positions and manage risks.
  3. Marine Traffic:
    • Role: A global ship tracking platform using Automatic Identification System (AIS) data to monitor vessel movements in real-time.
    • Use in Trade: Provides visibility into maritime logistics, port congestion, and vessel availability, critical for optimizing shipping routes and avoiding delays.
  4. Maxar:
    • Role: Specializes in satellite imagery and geospatial intelligence, offering high-resolution data on infrastructure, ports, and commodity storage facilities.
    • Use in Trade: Enables monitoring of physical assets like oil storage, port activity, or mining operations, providing insights into supply chain dynamics and trade flows.
  5. Freight Waves:
    • Role: Focuses on freight market intelligence, providing data on trucking, shipping, and logistics, with tools like SONAR for freight rate forecasting and supply chain analytics.
    • Use in Trade: Helps shippers and logistics providers optimize freight operations, predict costs, and navigate supply chain disruptions.
  6. TradingView:
    • Role: A charting and social platform for traders and investors, offering technical analysis tools for stocks, commodities, forex, and other markets.
    • Use in Trade: Primarily used for financial trading rather than physical trade, it helps traders analyze market trends and execute trades based on technical indicators.
  7. Vortexa:
    • Role: Provides advanced cargo tracking and energy market intelligence, focusing on oil and gas trades with real-time vessel analytics and historical data.
    • Use in Trade: Enables energy traders and freight operators to track global energy flows, optimize trading margins, and monitor vessel and port activity with 99% accuracy.

Additional Tools for Controlling Global Trade

Beyond the seven platforms you listed, several other tools and platforms are widely used to monitor and influence global trade, particularly in commodities, shipping, and finance. Here are some notable examples based on the provided context and general knowledge:

  1. Global Trade Tracker:
    • Role: Offers competitive intelligence and market research through trade data analytics, useful for predictive modeling and evaluating new markets.
    • Use in Trade: Helps businesses analyze trade patterns and identify opportunities in new regions.
  2. Kpler:
    • Role: Provides real-time trade intelligence for over 40 commodities, including oil, gas, and dry bulk, with tools for tracking containers and forecasting freight trends.
    • Use in Trade: Offers granular insights into commodity flows, vessel movements, and market trends, competing with Vortexa and S&P Global.
  3. 20Cube Logistics (MyHub):
    • Role: A digital platform for optimizing shipping routes, predicting ETAs, and managing logistics operations to reduce delays and congestion.
    • Use in Trade: Simplifies logistics planning and enhances supply chain efficiency for shippers and freight forwarders.
  4. PortWatch:
    • Role: A platform by the IMF for analyzing and downloading global trade and port data, offering visualizations like charts and thematic maps.
    • Use in Trade: Supports policymakers and analysts in monitoring trade flows and port activity.
  5. World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS):
    • Role: A World Bank tool for accessing merchandise trade, tariff, and non-tariff data, with capabilities for tariff simulations and trade competitiveness analysis.
    • Use in Trade: Used by governments and analysts to assess trade policies and competitiveness.
  6. The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC):
    • Role: A data visualization tool for international trade data, providing insights into trade flows by country and commodity.
    • Use in Trade: Helps businesses and researchers understand global trade patterns and economic complexity.
  7. Signal Ocean Platform:
    • Role: A platform for chartering and shipping analytics, assisting with market timing, vessel triangulation, and commercial decisions.
    • Use in Trade: Enhances decision-making for chartering managers and fleet operators in volatile markets.

Total Number of Tools

Including the seven platforms you listed and the additional six identified from the context and general knowledge, there are at least 13 tools commonly used to monitor, analyze, and influence global trade. This number could be higher depending on the scope of “control” (e.g., including financial trading platforms, logistics software, or government policy tools), but these are the most relevant based on your query and the provided context.

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