How to read an import export data file, column by column
A CargoBills file is a spreadsheet with one row per shipment. Here's what each column means and what to watch for. Columns differ by country, so your file may not have all 21.
The columns
| Column | What it tells you | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Date | When the shipment was declared or registered | Usually the declaration date, not the arrival date |
| Shipment ID | The shipping bill, bill of entry or bill of lading number | Useful for removing duplicate rows |
| HS code | The product classification declared | Length differs by country. Misclassification happens. |
| Industry | A broad category based on the HS chapter | A grouping added for convenience, not an official field |
| Product description | Free text written by the shipper | Spelling and detail vary widely |
| Buyer, country, state, city, address | The importer or consignee | May be a freight forwarder or agent, not the end buyer |
| Destination port | Where the goods arrived | Inland locations may show the gateway port |
| Seller, country, state, city, address | The exporter or shipper | Can be a trading company rather than the manufacturer |
| Origin port | Where the goods were loaded | Not always the country of manufacture |
| Unit | The unit of quantity, such as KGS, MTS, PCS or NOS | Mixed units in one file can't be added together |
| Quantity | How much was shipped, in that unit | Check one or two rows against the description |
| Value (USD) | Declared value, converted to US dollars | FOB or CIF basis depends on the country |
| Unit price | Value divided by quantity | Only comparable across rows with the same unit and basis |
Five things to do first in Excel
- Freeze the header row and turn on filters (View > Freeze Panes, then Data > Filter).
- Filter by unit so you never add kilograms to pieces.
- Clean company names. "ABC Foods LLC", "A.B.C. FOODS L.L.C." and "ABC FOODS" are probably one buyer. Add a column with a clean name.
- Build a pivot table with buyers as rows and the count of shipments and sum of quantity as values. This shows your biggest, most regular buyers.
- Sort by unit price to spot outliers, such as free samples declared at near-zero value.
What one row can't tell you
A single shipment says little. Patterns across months say a lot: who buys regularly, whether volumes are growing, and when suppliers change. Look at the whole file before drawing conclusions from any one line. If something in your file doesn't make sense, message me and I'll explain it.