Sign inTwo ways to find something worth building: what people are reporting as problems, and what this country is paying foreigners for. Both are ranked; neither is combined into the other.
Country · 2019–2024 · 60,550 trade records
One dot is one manufactured product this country imports. Hover to see which; click for the pathway and what it might cost to start. Both axes are annual trade, on a log scale — each gridline is ten times the last — because the figures span three and a half orders of magnitude and a linear axis would stack all but the largest onto the origin. Computed Nov 10, 2026 · 00:00 UTC.
35 of 50 sit below the parity line — the country buys more of that product than it sells. That gap is the opportunity; the ones above it are already served by domestic makers. These are the top 50 manufactured products out of 573 scored.
| Product | HS code | Annual imports | Annual exports | Buys per unit sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper; refined, unwrought, cathodes and sections of cathodes | 740311 | $2.6B | $261.6M | 10.2x |
| Aluminium; unwrought, alloys | 760120 | $833.8M | $1.2B | 0.6x |
| Copper; tubes and pipes, of refined copper | 741110 | $1B | $60.8M | 17.9x |
| Copper; waste and scrap | 740400 | $2B | $143.1M | 14.2x |
| Lead; unwrought, refined | 780110 | $297.8M | $651.5M | 0.4x |
| Iron or non-alloy steel; in coils, without patterns in relief, flat-rolled, of a width 600mm or more, hot-rolled, of a thickness of less than 3mm | 720839 | $861.6M | $540.8M | 1.5x |
| Iron or non-alloy steel; (not in coils), flat-rolled, of a width 600mm or more, hot-rolled, without patterns in relief, of a thickness exceeding 10mm | 720851 | $713.4M | $329M | 2.1x |
| Iron or non-alloy steel; flat-rolled, width 600mm or more, (not corrugated), plated or coated with zinc (not electrolytically) | 721049 | $449.1M | $504.2M | 0.8x |
| Copper; wire, of refined copper, of which the maximum cross-sectional dimension exceeds 6mm | 740811 | $898M | $530.4M | 1.6x |
| Iron or non-alloy steel; in coils, without patterns in relief, flat-rolled, of a width 600mm or more, hot-rolled, of a thickness of 3mm or more but less than 4.75mm | 720838 | $523.4M | $295.4M | 1.7x |
| Iron or non-alloy steel; flat-rolled, width 600mm or more, painted, varnished or coated with plastics | 721070 | $476M | $371M | 1.2x |
| Aluminium; articles n.e.c. in heading 7616 | 761699 | $486.6M | $471.4M | 1.0x |
| Zinc; unwrought, (not alloyed), containing by weight 99.99% or more of zinc | 790111 | $409.5M | $610.6M | 0.6x |
| Iron or steel; threaded screws and bolts n.e.c. in item no. 7318.1, whether or not with their nuts or washers | 731815 | $462.9M | $442.9M | 1.0x |
| Iron or steel; structures and parts thereof, n.e.c. in heading 7308 | 730890 | $272.5M | $987.1M | 0.2x |
| Iron or steel; articles n.e.c. in heading 7326 | 732690 | $916.3M | $990.5M | 0.9x |
| Aluminium; unwrought, (not alloyed) | 760110 | $225.4M | $3.5B | 0.0x |
| Aluminium; waste and scrap | 760200 | $3.6B | $26.7M | 135.8x |
| Aluminium; foil, (not backed), of a thickness not exceeding 0.2mm, not rolled | 760719 | $374.3M | $121.5M | 3.0x |
| Lead; unwrought, unrefined, not containing by weight antimony as the principal other element | 780199 | $476.6M | $146.3M | 3.2x |
| Aluminium; structures (excluding prefabricated buildings of heading no. 9406) and parts of structures, n.e.c. in heading no. 7610, plates, rods, profiles, tubes and the like | 761090 | $350M | $69.6M | 5.0x |
| Aluminium; foil, (not backed), rolled (but not further worked), of a thickness not exceeding 0.2mm | 760711 | $325.5M | $53.9M | 6.0x |
| Tools; plates, sticks, tips and the like for tools, unmounted, of sintered metal carbides or cermets | 820900 | $294.5M | $111.7M | 2.6x |
| Steel, stainless; flat-rolled, width 600mm or more, cold-rolled, of a thickness exceeding 1mm but less than 3mm | 721933 | $490M | $81.4M | 6.0x |
| Iron or non-alloy steel; in coils, without patterns in relief, flat-rolled, of a width 600mm or more, hot-rolled, of a thickness of 4.75mm or more but not exceeding 10mm | 720837 | $352M | $189.4M | 1.8x |
| Aluminium; plates, sheets and strip, thickness exceeding 0.2mm, alloys, rectangular (including square) | 760612 | $436.1M | $142.4M | 3.0x |
| Aluminium; (not alloyed), wire, maximum cross-sectional dimension exceeds 7mm | 760511 | $146.2M | $454.5M | 0.3x |
| Ferrous products; obtained by direct reduction of iron ore, in lumps, pellets or similar forms | 720310 | $181.7M | $453.1M | 0.4x |
| Ferrous waste and scrap; of stainless steel | 720421 | $1.6B | $6.1M | 263.8x |
| Ferrous waste and scrap; n.e.c. in heading no. 7204 | 720449 | $3.1B | $1.3M | 2289.1x |
| Steel, stainless; flat-rolled, width 600mm or more, cold-rolled, of a thickness of 0.5mm or more but not exceeding 1mm | 721934 | $275.9M | $42.4M | 6.5x |
| Copper; wire, of refined copper, of which the maximum cross-sectional dimension is 6mm or less | 740819 | $465.6M | $12.5M | 37.2x |
| Steel, stainless; semi-finished products, other than of rectangular cross-section | 721899 | $268.5M | $29.2M | 9.1x |
| Aluminium; alloys, bars, rods and profiles, other than hollow | 760429 | $121.9M | $65.8M | 1.8x |
| Iron or non-alloy steel; in coils, flat-rolled, width 600mm or more, cold-rolled, of a thickness of 0.5mm or more but not exceeding 1mm | 720917 | $127.9M | $182.5M | 0.7x |
| Iron or non-alloy steel; flat-rolled, width 600mm or more, plated or coated with aluminium zinc-alloys | 721061 | $101.9M | $75.5M | 1.3x |
| Steel, stainless; flat-rolled, width 600mm or more, hot-rolled, in coils, of a thickness of 4.75mm or more but not exceeding 10mm | 721912 | $175.5M | $84.2M | 2.0x |
| Stoppers; caps and lids, of base metal | 830990 | $106.4M | $125.7M | 0.8x |
| Iron or steel; threaded screws, bolts and nuts n.e.c. in item no. 7318.1 | 731819 | $146.1M | $176.6M | 0.8x |
| Mountings, fittings and similar articles; suitable for furniture of base metal | 830242 | $182.5M | $62.3M | 2.9x |
| Lead; unwrought, unrefined, containing by weight antimony as the principal other element | 780191 | $197.9M | $84.9M | 2.3x |
| Iron or steel; threaded nuts | 731816 | $158.4M | $92.6M | 1.7x |
| Hinges; suitable for furniture, doors, staircases, windows, blinds, coachwork, saddlery, trunks, chests, caskets or the like, of base metal | 830210 | $123.8M | $55.4M | 2.2x |
| Iron or steel; stranded wire, ropes and cables, not electrically insulated | 731210 | $239M | $163M | 1.4x |
| Iron or non-alloy steel; in coils, without patterns in relief, flat-rolled, of a width 600mm or more, hot-rolled, of a thickness exceeding 10mm | 720836 | $206.3M | $63.3M | 3.2x |
| Steel, alloy; bars and rods, hot-rolled, hot-drawn or extruded | 722830 | $179.9M | $74.9M | 2.4x |
| Aluminium; foil, backed with paper, paperboard, plastics or similar backing materials, of a thickness (excluding any backing) not exceeding 0.2mm | 760720 | $106.4M | $71.8M | 1.4x |
| Steel, stainless; flat-rolled, width less than 600mm, cold-rolled | 722020 | $102.7M | $145.7M | 0.7x |
| Iron or steel; articles n.e.c. in item no. 7326.11, forged or stamped, but not further worked | 732619 | $58.8M | $346.4M | 0.1x |
| Steel, stainless; table, kitchen and other household articles and parts thereof | 732393 | $33.7M | $406.9M | 0.0x |
Pick a dot to see what that product would take to make here.
Categories where people are reporting problems and the country imports heavily. A coincidence worth looking at — not a combined score. The two numbers count different things and are shown separately for that reason.
No category currently clears the bar on both sides. That is a real finding: it means the problems people are reporting and the goods the country buys abroad are not pointing at the same place yet.
Joined on the research category, which is the coarsest link available — eight categories cover every commodity. Treat it as a hint about where to look, not as a match between a reported problem and a product.
A ranking is only as honest as its exclusions.