Trade Port Monitor Results

[Didz]

I thought I'd keep a record of the 'Return On Investment' I get from my Trade Ports in my new British campaign as it still seems to be confusing some people. These figures merely record how much is being transported and how much profit is being made dependant upon how many ships are used.

The ROI is merely a measure of the return being made for the investment in the maintenance of the ships involved. [Note: The maintenance cost is based upon 'undamaged' Indiamen, and can be reduced if damaged ships are used. And will increase if you use Fluyt's or Galleons]

Ships	Qty	Price	Value	Cost	Profit	ROI
1	20	26	520	48	472	983%
2	33	25	825	96	729	759%
3	46	24	1104	144	960	667%
4	59	23	1357	192	1165	607%
5	72	23	1656	240	1416	590%
6	85	19	1615	288	1327	461%
7	98	18	1764	336	1428	425%
8	110	22	2420	384	2036	530%
9	124	22	2728	432	2296	531%
10	137	21	2877	480	2397	499%

Ships	Qty	Price	Value	Cost	Profit	ROI
1	16*	22	352	48	304	633%
2	29*	21	609	96	513	534%

*This trade route is currently being raided and this figure confirms that 20% of the goods are being stolen.

The pirates raiding the East Indies have wandered off, so these are the true figures for comparison.

Ships	Qty	Price	Value	Cost	Profit	ROI
1	20	20	400	48	352	733%
2	37	20*	740	96	644	671%
3	54	18	972	144	828	575%
4	71	17	1207	192	1015	529%
5	88	17	1496	240	1256	523%
6	105	17	1785	288	1497	520%
7	122	18+	2196	336	1860	554%
8	139	17	2363	384	1979	515%
9	156	17	2652	432	2220	514%
10	173	17	2941	480	2461	513%
11	190	17	3230	528	2702	512%
12	207	16	3312	576	2736	475%
13	224	16	3584	624	2960	474%
14	241	17+	4097	672	3425	510%
(Maximum Fleet Limit)

*Note that although 20% of the spice is now not being stolen by pirates, the price for the 37 bales of spice I then began to ship dropped to 20. I am not trading spice from anywhere else but the East Indies, so this confirms that the price is based upon the global amount of trade in that commodity. I would guess that the Dutch or one of the Indian factions is trading spice also.
+I assume the slight increase in the trade price of spice shown here is as a result of a drop in market competition due to the disruption caused by the war in India. The result is that spice has become the most profitable commodity at the moment.

Ships	Qty	Price	Value	Cost	Profit	ROI
1	20	22*	440	48	392	817%
2	35	21*	735	96	639	666%
3	50	20*	1000	144	856	594%
4	65	18*	1170	192	978	509%
5	80	17*	1360	240	1120	467%
6	95	22+	2090	288	1802	626%
7	110	22	2420	336	2084	620%
8	125	22	2750	384	2366	616%
9	140	23	3220	432	2788	645%
10	155	23	3565	480	3085	643%
11	170	22	3740	528	3212	608%
12	185	22	4070	576	3494	607%
13	200	22	4400	624	3776	605%
14	215	22	4730	672	4058	604%
Maximum Fleet Limit

*As you can see the price is determined by the total quantity of that commodity being traded, not the quantity being shipped from this trade port. The price has continued to drop from the price quoted for the Ivory Coast earlier. It is now clear that the price is affected by the global quantity of the commodity being traded by yourself and other factions. It will therefore also be affected by any other trade your faction undertakes in that commodity elsewhere, so as you develop your Sugar Plantations, the price of sugar being shipped from Brazil will drop.
+ No idea why there was sudden massive price increase, except for the fact that several of the other traders in this theatre are having their trade lanes blockaded.

Ships	Qty	Price	Value	Cost	Profit	ROI
1	20	15*	300	48	252	525%
2	34	15*	510	96	414	431%
3	48	15*	720	144	576	400%
4	62	15*	930	192	738	384%
5	76	15*	1140	240	900	375%
6	90	15*	1350	288	1062	369%
7	104	15*	1560	336	1224	364%
8	118	15*	1770	384	1386	361%
9	132	15*	1980	432	1548	358%

*It's worth noting that the price of sugar from Brazil is pretty low. The reason is almost certainly that my faction has sugar plantations in the America's that are already producing 45 loaves of a sugar a turn and competing with the Brazilian trade. It might be worth avoiding this is you can by opting for Tobacco or Coffee plantions whenever possible to avoid swamping the market with too much sugar. However, it looks as though there is a minimum market price below which it will not fall, as it seems to have become steady at 15 per loaf.

[AussieGiant]

That's pretty useful Didz. Thanks.

-EDIT-

I guess it is still very worth your while to put at least 5 ships on each slot? 590% is still not bad no?

[anweRU]

I'll add that the additional bales/ship after the first ship are different for different theaters.

Ivory Coast: 13

Madagascar Straits: 15

East Indies: 17

[Didz]

I'll add that the additional bales/ship after the first ship are different for different theaters.

Ivory Coast: 13

Madagascar Straits: 15

East Indies: 17

Yep! thats clearly shown in the data above, though I'm not quite sure what the logic behind it is.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

In my campaign: East Indies each additional ship added 15. For Brazil it is 14.

[Didz]

In my campaign: East Indies each additional ship added 15. For Brazil it is 14.

Yep! thats confirmed by my own data too.

[Servius]

Campaign difficulty level may affect units shipped from each trade post. Not sure, but just a variable we might want to consider.

[Skott]

Thats just using one trade node per zone, correct?

[Didz]

Thats just using one trade node per zone, correct?

Yes, and from previous experience the quantity shipped is dependant on ships in the stack not ships in the trade theatre.

So, five ships in a stack on a single trade post in the East Indies ship 88 spice bales. But if I were to split the stack and place each ship on a different trade posts I would ship 100 spice bales.

It just happens that in this campaign I'm restricting myself to one trade post per theatre, to see what impact it has on the naval campaign.

[Skott]

Okay, thanks. I just wanted to make sure I was following along with your info with the proper understanding on my part.

[alpaca]

How many trade goods subsequent ships add is arbitrarily set in the commodities table. Don't quite recall the values, there's a post by Thamis about it somewhere on the TWC. I don't think it depends on the difficulty setting.

[Hosakawa Tito]

It might be worth avoiding this is you can by opting for Tobacco or Coffee plantions whenever possible to avoid swamping the market with too much sugar. However, it looks as though there is a minimum market price below which it will not fall, as it seems to have become steady at 15 per loaf.

A good tip. In my GB campaign I took all the Caribbean Islands away from Spain & France, greatly increasing my Sugar supply, and the price dropped from 16/loaf to 12/loaf. It would be nice to know which Plantations are optional for Sugar/Tobacco/Coffee so one can dismantle some of the Sugar Plantations and reduce the commodity glut.

[TinCow]

It's interesting to note that even commodities with low prices (i.e. 15) still produce a sizable return on investment. Trade is definitely a great way to improve your income, even if you're stuck with only one trade port in a low-price commodity.

[anweRU]

A good tip. In my GB campaign I took all the Caribbean Islands away from Spain & France, greatly increasing my Sugar supply, and the price dropped from 16/loaf to 12/loaf. It would be nice to know which Plantations are optional for Sugar/Tobacco/Coffee so one can dismantle some of the Sugar Plantations and reduce the commodity glut.

It should be sugar-coffee and tobacco-cotton. You can easily look them up in the building browser once you capture the region.

IIRC, the three eastern-most islands are sugar only; Hispaniola has one coffee (or was it tobacco?) only plantation. The other two are sugar/coffee dual-use.

[al Roumi]

Everything on the N American continent is definitley dual use.

[Didz]

Monitoring the ROI of each Trade Theatre has produced some interesting results. The main thing I've noticed is that the East Indies in my game is far more profitable than any of the other trade zones, and so it is getting all the trade ships at the minute.