How to query data from UN Comtrade

How to query data from UN Comtrade
Depending on your information need and level of expertise of the UN Comtrade
system, the website offers flexibility in finding the necessary trade data. Consider
the following scenarios below:
(i) Using Search for data Box, also known as Comtrade Explorer [Any Pages]
There are two search options available, data and help. For data, you can enter
only commodity code or text, partner or reporter code or name, and related
commodity trade variables. The output would yield several pages with the results
in tag clouds. For example, the search term could be the name of the country,
the country's abbreviation, a commodity key word or a year. Examples: "aircraft"
or "aircraft engine". The tag clouds appear as years for which the commodity
selected is available. The first result shows that year 2004 has the largest value
for that commodity. Clicking data availability option just below gives all the
reporters and years for which the selected commodity (-ies) is/are available.
(ii) Using Shortcut Query [Front Page]
If reporter or partner is known, Shortcut Query is the easiest tool. Just type the
commodity text on the box, select reporter/partner and click Search. The system
will search the latest available data.
(iii) Using Basic Selection [Menu: Data Query -> Basic Selection]
Basic selection option is a little more sophisticated but still user friendly. You can
search for commodities within the commodities tab. Within the reporters tab you
can select one or more reporters from the drop down list or choose your
customized country groups or my favorite reporters. The latter two options are
available to UN Comtrade subscribers only. It is the same for partners tab also.
You can select years depending on your need in the years tab. The others tab
allows the user to filter trade data by value and also allows the user to choose a
preset sort order.
After choosing all the appropriate options for your query you can save your query
for future use. You can also allow for batch notification. Batch notification will
send a notice to your email address once the query execution is completed.
Please note these two options are also limited to subscribers of the UN Comtrade
database only.
(iv) Using Express Selection [Menu: Data Query -> Express Selection]
The Express selection query option is for the more advanced user of UN
Comtrade. It too has all the features of the Basic Selection query but in a more
compact window.
For commodities, you have the option to choose individual commodities or just
chapters. All specifies all commodities within the selected revision. AG0, AG1, …
AG6 are aggregate levels and refer to all commodity codes beginning with the
specified digits. LF or leaf refers to the basic code and does not include any of
the detailed children. Wildcard * is used to find a string of zero or more
characters. Wildcard ? is used to find individual characters. The Advanced Items
tab is the same as in the Basic Selection.