Data and Market Intelligence Methodology

EU Seed Trade Pulse definitions

EU Internal Trade: Exporter-reported dispatches where both reporter and partner are EU-27 members; each reported export flow is counted once and mirror import declarations are excluded.

EU Imports: Reporter-declared EU-27 imports from partners outside the EU-27; EU internal movements and aggregate/special partner codes are excluded.

EU Exports: Reporter-declared EU-27 exports to partners outside the EU-27; EU internal movements and aggregate/special partner codes are excluded.

Trade balance: Extra-EU exports minus extra-EU imports for the same eligible seed CN scope and completed month.

Metrics and evidence

Volume is verified net weight in tonnes. Trade value is the declared euro value. Unit value is aggregate trade value divided by aggregate net weight in EUR/kg. Unit value is trade value ÷ net weight, not a market price or transaction quote. YoY compares the completed month with the same month one year earlier.

Unit value range: Category-level aggregate for the same completed month; at least 100 tonnes and 2 verified observations with positive net weight and trade value. Review-only, ambiguous and partial-period rows are excluded. The range is a category-level trade indicator, not a market price.

Trade Activity is deterministic: HIGH when volume YoY is at least +15%, LOW when it is at most −15%, and NORMAL otherwise. At least 20 observations and six eligible CN codes are required in both months; otherwise no activity label is published. Activity is descriptive, not a forecast, recommendation or trading advice.

Scope and publication gates

Only CN codes already approved for the PUBLIC_SAFE market dataset and normalized rows marked VERIFIED are included; unresolved or review-only mappings are excluded. EU internal trade uses exporter-reported dispatches only, preventing mirror import declarations from being counted a second time.

Representative species-level unit values retain the established outlier and low-volume controls. Marketplace context is shown only where one verified species mapping exists; ambiguous or unsupported categories fail closed.

Supply production/certification evidence remains separate from commodity crop area. Weather, supply, editorial content and Marketplace offers do not alter COMEXT calculations.