CIF and FOB values

Every bilateral observation in UN Comtrade Plus TradeFlow — Electrical Machinery & Instruments (HS 85/90) expresses its trade value in up to three ways: CIF value (cost, insurance and freight), FOB value (free on board) and primaryValue. Which basis applies follows the flow direction, because customs valuations differ for goods arriving versus goods leaving.

The values never travel alone. Each record also carries netWgt, grossWgt and supplementary quantity fields such as qty with qtyUnitAbbr units like KG or U, so a value figure can always be normalized per kilogram or per unit. That matters when comparing an importer's declaration against its partner's export declaration: the two sides will legitimately disagree by the cost of moving the goods.

Pick a source that flattens valuation into one number and you lose the ability to explain mirror gaps. Electronics trade analysis lives or dies on this: HS 85 and HS 90 flows span millions of records, and treating CIF-versus-FOB differences as anomalies would flag ordinary shipping costs as fraud.

There is also a reporting-side effect. Because UNSD distributes figures as submitted by national statistical offices, the valuation basis tells you whose customs regime produced the number. Analysts who need consistent series across partners must know which basis each row uses before aggregating.

1. Verify all three value fields are present. cifvalue, fobvalue and primaryValue are separate columns in the Comtrade Plus TradeFlow schema for electronic-equipment-instruments; absence of any one limits reconciliation work.
2. Confirm direction-dependent population. Imports carry CIF, exports carry FOB — test a known flow in both directions before trusting aggregates.
3. Pair values with physical measures. Check that netWgt, grossWgt and qty with qtyUnitAbbr units accompany values, so unit values can be computed.

Where to see it in context: electronic-equipment-instruments data and homefurnishing-retail data.

Build on the Comtrade Plus record model: - comtrade-estimation-flags — Each Comtrade Plus record ships boolean estimation flags - isReported, isQtyEstimated, isNetWgtEstimated, isAltQtyEstimated, isGrossWgtEstimated and legacyEstimationFlag - because UNSD supplies data as reported by national authorities without modification, and missing components are estimated.