One code, one page
A good trade report answers one question for one product: where should we sell it or buy it, and at what price? Keep it to one page and one HS code. Use the 8-digit Indian code for Indian figures and rules, and its first 6 digits, the product type, for other countries.
Every number in the report needs two labels: where it came from, and which period it covers. A figure without a source and a date cannot be checked, and nobody can tell whether it is out of date. Each of our tools shows its source and date under the answer: copy them into your report.
The six parts
- Product: the 8-digit code, its official description, and the 6-digit code used abroad.
- Market: the biggest importing countries, India's share in each and their growth, for one named year.
- India's own trade: the last 12 months of India's exports or imports of the code, the main partner countries and the trend.
- Buyers or suppliers: the most active companies from shipment records, with their number of shipments and their last shipment date.
- Price: the average price per unit over 12 months and its trend, with the unit and whether it is CIF or FOB.
- Duty and rules: the duty in your main markets, India's duty if you import, and any rule change, anti-dumping duty or BIS order for the code.
What it looks like
- Product X: Indian code 1234 56 78, compared abroad at 1234 56.
- Market: the five biggest importers bought US$500 million in 2025. India's share across them was 6%, which is US$30 million.
- Fastest grower: Market X, up 25% on 2024, with India's share up from 5% to 10%.
- India's exports, last 12 months: US$12 million, up 20% on the 12 months before. The top partner took 40%, which is US$4.8 million.
- Price: an average of US$3.00 per piece FOB, against US$2.80 a year earlier, a rise of about 7%.
- Buyers: 3 importers with 10 or more shipments in 12 months, each with a shipment in the last 30 days.
- Duty: Market X 0% under a trade agreement, with proof of origin; Market Y 12% at the standard rate.
- Rules: no anti-dumping case and no BIS order; one customs notification in the last 90 days, read and noted.
- Sources: each line names its tool or official source and the date it was checked.
Where to get each part
- Market size, share and growth: our Where to sell tool, for one year at a time, at 6 digits.
- India's trade and price: our India's export or import figures, 24 months by partner country, with an average price for 8-digit codes.
- Buyers and suppliers: Indian customs shipment records in SCM Insights, our directory, and Buyers abroad for Peru.
- Duty: our Duty in export markets tool for the US, the UK, the EU and Australia, and Import duty and landed cost for India.
- Rules: Rule changes, Anti-dumping and safeguards, BIS certification, and HS codes and GST for India's import and export policy.
Before you share it
Read it once as your buyer or your manager would. Does every number have a source and a date? Is one figure much older than the rest? Does anything rest on a single shipment? Fix those, then write one line at the top with your conclusion and the main risk.
Watch out: The usual mistake is mixing periods and bases: a 2024 market size beside a 2026 price, or a CIF figure beside an FOB one. Put the period next to every number, and say CIF or FOB wherever a value appears.
In short
- One report, one HS code, one page.
- Six parts: product, market, India's trade, buyers, price, and duty and rules.
- Every number carries its source and its period.
- Do not mix years, currencies, or CIF and FOB without saying so.
- End with one line: your conclusion and the main risk.
Try it on our data
Check yourself
Words in this lesson
Sources
- DGCI&S: Foreign trade statistics
- WCO: Harmonized System, frequently asked questions
- DGCI&S TradeStat: India's trade by HS code and country
Facts checked against these sources on
Trade Academy is education, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules and rates change by notification: check the live source, or ask a licensed customs broker, before you act.