Methodology

Machine-scale data. Senior-analyst sign-off.

Our methodology combines machine-scale data aggregation across UN Comtrade, World Bank, WTO, Eurostat, ITC, EU Taxud and additional government sources with expert human review by our research team. Where official sources conflict, outliers are flagged and Monte Carlo models estimate the most likely outcome. Every report is reviewed and signed off by a senior sector specialist before it reaches the customer.

Authoritative sources

Cross-checked against the sources you already trust.

UN ComtradeWorld BankWTOEurostatITCEU Taxud

Plus national customs authorities, sector-specific retail and consumer data, EU Taxud weekly surveillance for seafood, US Census Bureau Foreign Trade statistics, and primary research where the question requires it.

— 01 / Process

From query to licensed PDF.

Aggregation

Machine-scale data ingestion.

Our infrastructure ingests, normalises and cross-references transaction-level trade evidence against the official sources listed above. HS codes are reconciled across national variants. Currencies and units are harmonised. Outliers are flagged.

Conflict resolution

Sources conflict — we resolve them.

Where authoritative sources disagree, we flag the conflict in the report. Monte Carlo models estimate the most likely outcome with confidence intervals. Assumptions are disclosed in the methodology appendix.

Senior-analyst review

Every report signed off.

No report leaves Ponte without a senior sector specialist reviewing it. They check the data, challenge the conclusions, and write or refine the executive summary. The reviewer's initials appear on the cover page.

Licence and provenance

Citable. Traceable. Yours.

Every PDF ships with a single-organisation redistribution licence, a watermark ID written to our ledger, full source citations, and a methodology appendix. Cite it in proposals, board packs, or regulatory filings.

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