NEWARK, New Jersey, December 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- PIERS (http://www.piers.com), the standard in trade intelligence, today announced its latest expansion of trade intelligence services, now offering global import and export data for seven additional Latin American countries: Panama, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. With this expansion, PIERS trade data covers the top importing and exporting countries of this region.

This represents a significant geographical expansion in terms of trade data, and is being added to the existing bank of global trade statistics from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. PIERS continues to improve its trade intelligence to enable businesses to capitalize on new markets and successfully compete in the global marketplace. Detailed maritime import and export trade data to and from all listed countries is now available; additionally, Panama and Bolivia data sets include air and land trade statistics. All countries provide current and historical information.

"As Latin America begins to see signs of economic recovery, we are excited to scale our database and provide clients the critical information they need to grow their bottom line," says Wael Jarous, PIERS Vice President, Sales. "Latin America is an important trading partner for the U.S. and the world."

According to the UPS Business Monitor Latin America (BMLA study) issued this month, 80 percent of small and medium enterprises surveyed project an economic improvement over the next year. Marketing, Sales and Supply Change Management are cited as most important priorities in 2011 to increase competitiveness. PIERS is especially suited to help businesses of all sizes identify emerging economic trends, facilitate forecasting and give insight necessary to identify customers, partners and competitors worldwide.

To see PIERS products and solutions in action, PIERS will be sponsoring the Intermodal South America (http://www.intermodal.com.br/en) conference April 5 - 7, 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The event is organized by UBM Brazil (http://ubmbrazil.com.br/en/eventos.html), the Brazilian subsidiary of United Business Media (UBM).

About PIERS: PIERS is the global import and export information service that provides powerful tools and data for measuring markets, analyzing competition and uncovering opportunities. Launched more than 35 years ago, PIERS was the first venture in digital global trade intelligence and quickly became the industry standard for accuracy, reliability and insight. Thousands of subscribers from public and private businesses, trade associations and governments around the world rely on PIERS to guide their global business strategies. PIERS is a division of UBM Global Trade, and a sister company of The Journal of Commerce. For more information, visit http://www.piers.com, or call 800-952-3839 (+1-973-776-8660).

About UBM Global Trade - UBM Global Trade is the leading provider of proprietary data, news, business intelligence and analytical content supporting commercial maritime, rail, trucking, warehousing and logistics industries worldwide. The company's portfolio of more than 100 online, print and interactive workflow business solutions includes The Journal of Commerce, Breakbulk, RailResource, PIERS and an array of international trade and transportation databases and directories. UBM Global Trade, a subsidiary of United Business Media Limited, is headquartered in Newark, NJ, with offices throughout the United States. For more information, explore http://www.ubmglobaltrade.com or call 800-223-0243 (+1-973-848-7250 outside the U.S. or Canada).

SOURCE: PIERS

CONTACT: Susan Kelemen, Media Relations, PIERS, UBM Global Trade (a UnitedBusiness Media Company), +1-973-776-7835, skelemen@piers.com