Commodity market profiling methodology

The article considers the methodology of commodity markets research, which includes the assessment of the volume and structure of supply and demand according to a wide range of indicators. The information on formation of system representations of markets on the basis of segmentation of markets, marketing profiling of markets and their clients is generalized. The market profiling approach is discussed in depth. This approach consists in the representation of the market as a multidimensional array of data on the type of goods, price ranges, the distribution of buyers and sellers by region, industry and other characteristics on the basis of available reliable, but incomplete data. The article considers the problem of obtaining reliable data to determine their reliable sources and organization of data collection in the framework of consulting services. The relevance of the task of forming the correct sample for consulting markets research, which provides in conjunction with data from public sources, a representative representation of the commodity market. Specific features of commodity markets, which causes the variability of approaches to the market dependence on imports, the share of direct deliveries, transport channels of supply and other factors have been considered; features of profiling in the express-analysis of commodity markets have been determined. As an example of practical realization of commodity markets profiling methodology, the market of hot-rolled stainless steel sheets with thickness of 2.0–13.0 mm and width up to 1600 mm is considered. This market is characterized by high import dependence and, therefore, the Federal Customs Service database was used as a source of information for it. Market profiling, performed in accordance with the proposed methodology, provided detailed information on the distribution of imports and consumption of individual groups of stainless steel sheets. Estimates of the commodity market obtained as a result of the study using market profiling have been verified by independent consulting studies.