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.
41 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 213 scored.
| Product | HS code | Annual imports | Annual exports | Buys per unit sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Propylene, other olefin polymers; polypropylene in primary forms | 390210 | $1.1B | $396.5M | 2.9x |
| Plastics; other articles n.e.c. in chapter 39 | 392690 | $1.1B | $838.1M | 1.3x |
| Ethylene polymers; in primary forms, polyethylene having a specific gravity of 0.94 or more | 390120 | $1.2B | $140.8M | 8.7x |
| Ethylene polymers; in primary forms, polyethylene having a specific gravity of less than 0.94 | 390110 | $1B | $171.4M | 6.0x |
| Plastics; plates, sheets, film, foil and strip, other than cellular | 392190 | $316.5M | $357.2M | 0.8x |
| Rubber; vulcanised (other than hard rubber), articles n.e.c. in heading no. 4016, of non-cellular rubber | 401699 | $277.2M | $309.3M | 0.8x |
| Ethylene polymers; in primary forms, n.e.c. in heading no. 3901 | 390190 | $273.7M | $59.5M | 4.5x |
| Ethylene polymers; in primary forms, ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymers, having a specific gravity of less than 0.94 | 390140 | $715.7M | $192.8M | 3.7x |
| Acrylic polymers; (other than polymethyl methacrylate), in primary forms | 390690 | $671.5M | $242M | 2.7x |
| Polyethers; in primary forms, excluding polyacetals | 390720 | $892.8M | $60.5M | 14.7x |
| Polyethers other than polyacetals, and bis(polyoxyethylene) methylphosphonate; in primary forms | 390729 | $823.2M | $90.7M | 9.0x |
| Silicones; in primary forms | 391000 | $355.2M | $76.8M | 4.6x |
| Polyurethanes; in primary forms | 390950 | $336M | $81.9M | 4.0x |
| Plastics; plates, sheets, film, foil, tape, strip, other flat shapes thereof, self-adhesive, other than in rolls of a width not exceeding 20cm | 391990 | $668.3M | $151.9M | 4.3x |
| Rubber; vulcanised (other than hard rubber), gaskets, washers and other seals, of non-cellular rubber | 401693 | $427.1M | $212.9M | 2.0x |
| Plastics; plates, sheets, film, foil and strip (not self-adhesive), of polymers of ethylene, non-cellular and not reinforced, laminated, supported or similarly combined with other materials | 392010 | $413.9M | $186.4M | 2.2x |
| Plastics; of polymers of propylene, plates, sheets, film, foil and strip (not self-adhesive), non-cellular and not reinforced, laminated, supported or similarly combined with other materials | 392020 | $121.9M | $395.1M | 0.3x |
| Plastics; plates, sheets, film, foil and strip (not self-adhesive), of poly(ethylene terephthalate), non-cellular and not reinforced, laminated, supported or similarly combined with other materials | 392062 | $163.8M | $382.9M | 0.4x |
| Poly(ethylene terephthalate); in primary forms, having a viscosity of 78ml/g or higher | 390761 | $230.3M | $328.8M | 0.7x |
| Vinyl chloride, other halogenated olefin polymers; poly(vinyl chloride), not mixed with any other substances, in primary forms | 390410 | $2.5B | $3.8M | 676.6x |
| Polyesters; n.e.c. in heading no. 3907, saturated, in primary forms | 390799 | $276.1M | $49.3M | 5.5x |
| Rubber; synthetic, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and carboxylated styrene-butadiene rubber (XSBR), (other than latex), in primary forms or in plates, sheets or strip | 400219 | $387.4M | $19.9M | 19.3x |
| Cellulose ethers; (other than carboxymethylcellulose and its salts), in primary forms | 391239 | $396.2M | $16.9M | 23.4x |
| Polyamides; polyamide-6, -11, -12, -6,6, -6,9, -6,10 or -6,12, in primary forms | 390810 | $699.9M | $28.3M | 24.7x |
| Rubber; unvulcanised, compounded with carbon black or silica, in primary forms or in plates, sheets or strip | 400510 | $347.2M | $11M | 31.4x |
| Plastics; plates, sheets, film, foil and strip (not self-adhesive), of plastics n.e.c. in heading no. 3920, non-cellular and not reinforced, laminated, supported or similarly combined with other materials | 392099 | $404.3M | $38.8M | 10.4x |
| Propylene, other olefin polymers; propylene copolymers in primary forms | 390230 | $566.9M | $26.5M | 21.3x |
| Amino-resins; n.e.c. in heading no. 3909, in primary forms, poly(methylene phenyl isocyanate) (Crude MDI, polymeric MDI) | 390931 | $367.8M | $10.4M | 35.2x |
| Polysulphides, polysulphones and similar products of chemical synthesis n.e.c. in chapter 39; in primary forms | 391190 | $141.5M | $82.8M | 1.7x |
| Polyesters; n.e.c. in heading no. 3907, unsaturated, in primary forms | 390791 | $129.6M | $50.7M | 2.5x |
| Cellulose and its chemical derivatives; n.e.c. in item no. 3912, in primary forms | 391290 | $121.8M | $110.2M | 1.1x |
| Epoxide resins; in primary forms | 390730 | $237.1M | $64.1M | 3.6x |
| Plastics; polymers of vinyl chloride, containing by weight, less than 6% of plasticisers; plates, sheets, film, foil and strip (not self-adhesive), non-cellular and not reinforced, laminated, supported or similarly combined with other materials | 392049 | $129.3M | $80.2M | 1.6x |
| Poly(ethylene terephthalate); in primary forms, having a viscosity of less than 78ml/g | 390769 | $174.7M | $184.1M | 0.9x |
| Plastics; articles for the conveyance or packing of goods n.e.c. in heading no. 3923 | 392390 | $117.6M | $208.1M | 0.5x |
| Rubber; new pneumatic tyres, of a kind used on construction, mining or industrial handling vehicles and machines | 401180 | $86.2M | $610.1M | 0.1x |
| Plastics; sacks and bags (including cones), for the conveyance or packing of goods, of plastics other than ethylene polymers | 392329 | $32.9M | $460.6M | 0.0x |
| Polycarbonates; in primary forms | 390740 | $640.7M | $5.1M | 123.3x |
| Ethylene polymers; in primary forms, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers | 390130 | $425.3M | $3.9M | 106.5x |
| Styrene polymers; acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) copolymers, in primary forms | 390330 | $255.4M | $1.5M | 161.6x |
| Rubber; technically specified natural rubber (TSNR), in primary forms or in plates, sheets or strip (excluding latex and smoked sheets) | 400122 | $905.7M | $4M | 225.3x |
| Vinyl chloride, other halogenated olefin polymers; n.e.c. in heading no. 3904 | 390490 | $338.9M | $2.2M | 148.1x |
| Rubber; synthetic, butadiene rubber (BR), in primary forms or in plates, sheets or strip | 400220 | $274.5M | $5.8M | 47.1x |
| Polyamides; n.e.c. in heading no. 3908, in primary forms | 390890 | $102.6M | $41.8M | 2.4x |
| Styrene polymers; in primary forms, n.e.c. in heading no. 3903 | 390390 | $119.2M | $20.8M | 5.7x |
| Propylene, other olefin polymers; n.e.c. in heading no. 3902, in primary forms | 390290 | $119.9M | $12.2M | 9.8x |
| Vinyl chloride polymers; monofilament, of which any cross-sectional dimension exceeds 1mm, rods, sticks and profile shapes, whether or not surface-worked but not otherwise worked | 391620 | $109.5M | $10.4M | 10.4x |
| Rubber; synthetic, halo-isobutene-isoprene rubber (CIIR or BIIR), in primary forms or in plates, sheets or strip | 400239 | $113.7M | $10.1M | 11.1x |
| Plastics; of acrylic polymers, polymethyl methacrylate, plates, sheets, film, foil and strip (not self-adhesive), non-cellular and not reinforced, laminated, supported or similarly combined with other materials | 392051 | $207.7M | $11.4M | 18.1x |
| Vinyl acetate, vinyl ester polymers, vinyl polymers; n.e.c. in heading no. 3905, in primary forms, other than copolymers | 390599 | $127.5M | $19.6M | 6.4x |
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.