Cargo, containers and trade data

Container tracking, bills of lading and trade statistics, for checking what is in the box and whether a trade flow makes sense.

What is in the box, who shipped it, and does the trade flow make sense? Container tracking is free as long as you have a container or booking number. Shipment records come from customs releases of bills of lading, which are public in the United States and sold everywhere else. Trade statistics from the UN, the World Bank and national agencies are free and are the quickest way to check whether a claimed flow is plausible at all.

The commercial shipment databases (Panjiva, ImportGenius, Datamyne, Volza and others) are on the commercial platforms page; ImportYeti covers the free part of the same US data.

Container tracking

  • Track-Trace · Free · Webfokus, Norway · Sends a container number to the right page of about 170 carriers. Nothing stored, nothing to sign up for.
  • SeaRates container tracking · Freemium · DP World · Tracks by container, bill of lading or booking number across most carriers and shows the carrying vessel’s position. Free lookups are limited without an account.
  • ShipsGo · Freemium · ShipsGo · Multi-carrier container tracking with a few free lookups, then per-shipment credits and an API.
  • BIC container owner codes · Free · Bureau International des Containers · The register behind the first three letters of every container number: who owns or operates the box.

Bills of lading and facilities

  • ImportYeti · Freemium · ImportYeti · US import bills of lading searchable by company, supplier and product, free with limits on how much detail you see. The free way into the data Panjiva and ImportGenius sell.
  • Open Supply Hub · Free (API from $225/month, 2026-10) · Open Supply Hub · An open database of production facilities with names, addresses and the brands that list them. Search and downloads are free; the API is paid.

Trade statistics

  • UN Comtrade · Free account · UN Statistics Division · Bilateral trade by product code for almost every country, with a free API key subject to daily limits.
  • ITC Trade Map · Free account · International Trade Centre · Trade flows, tariffs and market indicators by product and country, with company directories for some markets.
  • WITS · Free · World Bank · Trade and tariff data with bulk download and an API, drawing on Comtrade and tariff databases.
  • Eurostat Comext · Free · Eurostat · EU trade in goods at eight-digit product detail by partner country and month.
  • USA Trade Online · Free account · US Census Bureau · US imports and exports at ten-digit detail by country, district and port.
  • OEC · Freemium · Datawheel · Visual explorer of trade flows by country and product, built on Comtrade and national data. Good for a first picture; check the numbers at source.
  • Resource Trade Earth · Free · Chatham House · Trade in natural resources (fuels, metals, agricultural goods) by country pair, with maps and downloads.

Freight rates

  • Drewry World Container Index · Free (headline) · Drewry · Weekly spot container rates on the main east-west routes. The headline figures are free; the detail is a subscription.
  • Freightos Baltic Index · Freemium · Freightos · Daily container spot index by lane; headline rates are free and the full series is paid.

Last checked 2026-10-12.