Suppliers in this area leverage alternative datasets such as Satellite imagery and Machine Learning to monitor the global supply chain of commodities in real time.

Utilising imagery data, augmented by machine learning, suppliers can measure the stockpiles of commodities awaiting transport at ports around the world, providing an indication of the current and expected supply further down the supply chain.

This is then converted to an index which will provide insights into the inventories at the ports over a period of time.

Benefits

Brand new technology providing a leading indicator ahead of other metrics such as fixture data or BoL data.

Drawbacks

Limited in coverage of ports globally, although suppliers can add new mines upon request it will take time to scale up.