Lindah-Kima/basotho-wool-trade-analysis

Business-focused analysis of Lesotho's wool trade using UN Comtrade data, exploring market concentration, trade value, seasonality, long-term trends, and winter effects. # Basotho Wool Trade Analysis A business-focused analysis of Lesotho's wool trade using UN Comtrade data from 2010 to 2024. The project looks beyond basic totals to understand **where the trade is concentrated, how volume relates to trade value, when trade is strongest, how the market has changed over time, and how winter affects major markets**. The analysis was built around a simple principle: > **Start with the business question, then use the data to find the answer.** --- ## Project Overview Wool is an important agricultural export for Lesotho, with international markets playing a significant role in the industry's value. This project uses monthly trade records to explore the observed wool trade across reporting markets, with particular attention to South Africa and China. Rather than starting with visualisations, the analysis followed a structured process: **Data understanding → Data quality → Business questions → Analysis → Visualisation → Business implications** The final results are presented in a six-visual PowerPoint report. --- ## Questions We Asked The analysis was built around six business questions: - Where is observed wool trade concentrated? - Does the largest share of physical volume also represent the largest share of trade value? - When is observed wool trade strongest and weakest? - How has the trade changed between 2010 and 2024? - How has the value associated with each kilogram changed over time? - Does Southern Hemisphere winter affect trade volume and trade value? --- ## Key Findings ### 1. The observed trade is highly concentrated South Africa and China account for **98.7% of observed wool volume** in the dataset. | Market | Volume Share | |---|---:| | South Africa | 71.3% | | China | 27.4% | | India | 1.2% | | Uruguay | 0.1% | This makes South Africa and China the key markets in the observed records. --- ### 2. Volume and trade value tell different stories South Africa contributes the largest share of physical volume …