Trade company

For the decision, see Indian Trade Company

A trade company is a collection of provinces in a trade company region that give the owner less tax, manpower, and sailors, but more trade power, trade goods (including production income) and naval force limit, than if the owner included them in states. Trade companies may be formed by any nation in any of the 63 trade company regions throughout the old world, provided they are not on the same superregion (hence not on the same subcontinent) as the nation's capital. They are listed in the subject nation panel in the UI, but, unlike the English East India Company or Dutch VOC in real history, they do not actually have their own armies or administration – the land remains entirely under the nation's direct control.

Each trade company region is associated with a trade node, and contains exactly those provinces that are part of that trade node (except Pacific Charter, which corresponds to Polynesian Triangle but excludes New Zealand). To start a trade company, you can add all your eligible provinces in the node at once in the trade node UI, or one by one in the province UI. To be eligible, a province must not be part of a state, and any province that becomes part of a state will suffer automatic removal from the trade company. Removing a province from a trade company gives the "Left Trade Company" modifier for 5 years, preventing it from being added back during its duration as well as giving a −200% local goods produced modifier and removing any purchased investments in that province. Note that moving your capital to a subcontinent where you have provinces in a trade company removes them from that trade company and applies this modifier.

Effects of trade companies

Trade company regions.

Provinces in a trade company are subject to the following modifiers (additive as usual):

	+100%.0	Local trade power
	+0.5%	Naval force limit
	−200%.0	Local missionary strength
	+10%.0	Institution spread
	+25%.0	Province governing cost

Additionally, trade company provinces:

• Are territories, so their minimum autonomy is set to 90%
• Are affected by the minimum autonomy in territories modifier, but most of these maluses (penalties to manpower, etc) can be partially offset by Trade Company Investments.
• The +25% trade company governance capacity modifier is offset by the general −75% territory governance capacity modifier for a net −50% governance capacity modifier (one can further add a Court House for −25% or Town Hall for −50% – the latter nullifying the overall governance capacity)
• For production income the local autonomy effect is halved (not gold).
• Ignore all penalties from intolerance of the local religion or an unaccepted culture.
  • Negated penalties include local unrest, local tax, and goods produced.
  • Positive bonuses to local unrest from tolerated heretics are kept.
• Do not contribute to religious unity, regardless of religion.
• Do not have the embraced institutions of their owner spread to them. However, institutions may still spread through adjacency.
• Allow centers of trade to be upgraded.

When a trade company controls (hence the key provinces need to be assigned to that trade company, and not just be owned by you) 51% of all the provincial trade power in its node (hence it is NOT based on the total trade power you have in that node, but only the assigned provinces and their direct trade power; ignoring all other trade power modifiers in the node), it grants +1 merchant.(only with the Wealth of Nations DLC)

The Common Sense DLC allows one subject interaction for trade companies. A trade company's trade power may be increased by 50% at the cost of +0.03 inflation to its owner per year. This interaction may be toggled on and off at will.

All provinces in the trade company region that are not part of any trade company, get a bonus to goods produced equal to share of provincial company trade power owned by trade companies multiplied by last modifier from last spawned institution. (The value of trade in a node depends on the value of the goods produced, so this benefits both the natives and the traders). Light ships do not contribute to provincial trade power share therefore their presence doesn't change goods produced modifier from trade companies. This bonus doesn't overlap with a merchant republic's similar bonus to goods produced.

Therefore, it is wise to assign only provinces with high provincial trade power to your trade company, such as estuaries and trade centers, since the goods produced modifier from your trade companies doesn't apply to land held by trade companies in the region.

Goods produced modifier per each nations trade company operating in set region in game is calculated in following way:

$GP_{TCmod}={\sum \lceil PT_{tc}\rceil *I_{Nmod} \over \sum \lceil PT\rceil }$

$GP_{mod}=\sum {GP_{TCmod}}$

GP_mod goods produced modifier in trade company region, GP_TCmod goods produced modifier per trade company in trade company region, PT provincial trade power of province, PT_tc provincial trade power of province assigned to nations trade company,

I_Nmod institution modifier based on last embraced institution by nation owning the trade company.

I_Nmod depending on last institution level embraced

Institution	INmod
feudalism	20 %
renaissance	40 %
colonialism	60 %
printing press	80 %
global trade	100 %
manufactories	125 %
enlightenment	150 %
industrialization	200 %

List of trade company regions

As of 1.30 any province not in the same geographic super-region as a nation's capital can be allocated to a trade company. For example, a nation in Germany (except either area of prussia) can use Riga to start a Baltic trade company, but can not use Gotland, which lies in the Scandinavia region and is thus part of the Western Europe super-region.

Continent	Trade company region	Colour	Trade Node	Key provinces
Africa	West African Charter		Ivory Coast	Estuary: Cayor(1113), Benin(1147), Ngoyo(4079) Center of Trade Level 1: Gabu(1114), Gold Coast(1139), Benin(1147), Calabar(1163), Ndongo(1171), Benguela(1172), Cape Coast(2258)
Africa	South African Charter		Cape of Good Hope	Center of Trade Level 1: Cape(1177)
Africa	East African Charter		Zanzibar	Estuary: Quelimane(1192) Center of Trade Level 1: Inhambane(1183), Sofala(1186), Menabe(1193), Kilwa(1196), Malindi(1203), Pate(2796), Vatomandry(4025) Center of Trade Level 2: Zanzibar(1201), Mombasa(1202)
Asia	West Indian Charter		Gujarat	Estuary: Thatta(504) Center of Trade Level 1: Chittor(518), Thana(529), Ajmer(2087), Mansura(4503) Center of Trade Level 2: Surat(517), Chaul(2089) Center of Trade Level 3: Khambhat(4457)
Asia	Deccan Charter		Deccan	Center of Trade Level 1: Golconda(542), Bijapur(569) Center of Trade Level 2: Burhanpur(527), Daulatabad(545), Bidar(1948), Ujjain(4461)
Asia	East Indian Charter		Bengal	Estuary: Bengal Delta(561), Dhaka(564), Pathein(1815), Dagon(4399) Center of Trade Level 1: Cuttack(552), Sambalpur(553), Bengal Delta(561), Dhaka(564), Mrauk U(579), Pegu(586), Tirhut(2047), Satgaon(4477) Center of Trade Level 2: Pataliputra(558), Gauda(563) Center of Trade Level 3: Chittagong(568)
Asia	Coromandel Charter		Coromandel	Estuary: Velanadu(543), Konaseema(2084) Center of Trade Level 1: North Kanara(531), Madurai(536), Vijayanagar(541), Velanadu(543), Kalingandhra(549), Kotte(572), Trincomale(4409), Cannanore(4413) Center of Trade Level 2: Calicut(534), Tondainadu(539), Cuddalore(540), Tanjore(2026), Goa(2030)
Asia	North Indian Charter		Doab	Center of Trade Level 1: Dhundar(519), Kannauj(4497) Center of Trade Level 2: Delhi(522), Central Doab(524), Lower Doab(556)
Asia	Burma Charter		Burma	Center of Trade Level 2: Ava(584)
Asia	Indonesian Charter		Malacca	Center of Trade Level 1: Pattani(594), Lamuri(617), Siak(620), Palembang(622) Center of Trade Level 2: Melaka(596), Brunei(636), Pasai(2673)
Asia/Oceania (East Micronesia, Polynesia, West Micronesia only)	Philippine Charter		Philippines	Center of Trade Level 1: Sulu(651), Pangasinan(2698), Panay(2700), Butuan(2702) Center of Trade Level 2: Manila(656), Cebu(4352)
Asia/Oceania (Vogelkop Peninsula only)	Moluccan Charter		The Moluccas	Center of Trade Level 1: Demak(629), Palu(2714) Center of Trade Level 2: Kalapa(630), Makassar(641)
Asia	Indochinese Charter		Siam	Estuary: Prek Russey(2376) Center of Trade Level 1: Vijaya(607), Vientiane(614), Phnom Penh(2380) Center of Trade Level 2: Ayutthaya(600)
Asia	South Chinese Charter		Canton	Estuary: Canton(667), Hai Phong(2372) Center of Trade Level 1: Dong Kinh(613), Macau(668), Wuling(672) Center of Trade Level 3: Canton(667)
Asia	East Chinese Charter		Hangzhou	Estuary: Suzhou(1822), Haizhou(4196) Center of Trade Level 1: Fuzhou(669), Ningbo(2149) Center of Trade Level 2: Hangzhou(684)
Asia	North Chinese Charter		Beijing	Center of Trade Level 1: Laizhou(2139) Center of Trade Level 2: Beijing(1816)

Note that while the Philippine and Moluccan Charters have provinces which are located in Oceania, these provinces are usually of low development and unlike to be enough to form powerful trade companies (for countries with Asian capitals). In particular, the Vogelkop Peninsula is one province short of the requirement for the generic "Expand Overseas" mission (5 provinces within one trade company region, across 3 regions).

Trade company investments

When a nation has established a trade company they can increase their returns by investing in them. These are accessed through the state interface and are visible at the bottom. There are 5 investments (of 2 tiers) available to build per area that provide their benefit to the entire area. There are also 5 related special investments, only one of them can be built in each trade company region. A number of ideas and missions provide discounts for the trade company investments.

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−10%	—	Kilwan idea 3: The Deal with King Almuli Vermont idea 7: What We Do Best	—	—

	Source
-10%	Complete Germany mission: Overseas Empire
-20%	Complete France mission: Indian Dominance
-20%	Complete Portugal mission: Control Surat for 20 years

	Name	Cost	Benefit to trade company provinces in this area	Benefit to entire area	Benefit to entire charter	National benefits
Company Garrison	Local Quarter	200	+0.25 Supply limit +15% Local defensiveness
	Permanent Quarters	400	+0.50 Supply limit +30% Local defensiveness
	Officers' Mess	1000				+5 Land force limit
Harbor	Company Warehouse	200	+2 Trade power	+25% Local production efficiency
	Company Depot	400	+4 trade power	+50% Local production efficiency
	Admiralty	1000				+5 Naval force limit
Local Venture	Broker's Office	200	+25% Local production efficiency	+0.15 Local goods produced
	Broker's Exchange	400	+50% Local production efficiency	+0.30 Local goods produced
	Property Appraiser	1000			+50% Trade steering
Foreign Influence	Settlements	200	+25% Local tax modifier	−7.5% Local development cost
	Districts	400	+50% Local tax modifier	−15% Local development cost
	Township	1000			+10% Trade value modifier	+0.025 Yearly army tradition
Governance	Company Administration	200	+50% Local manpower modifier +50% Local sailors modifier
	Military Administration	400	+100% Local manpower modifier +100% Local sailors modifier
	Governor General's Mansion	1000			−5% Minimum local autonomy	+2000 manpower increase +400 sailor increase

Charter company

Main article: Diplomacy#Charter_company

Charter company diplomatic action allows a nation to purchase a province in a Trade Company region from another nation.

Strategy

The below is one of many player suggested strategies for Trade company. Bear in mind, due to the dynamic nature of the game, it may unfold differently for other players.

Trade company penalties

Regarding the penalties of trade company:

• The reduction in tax -- sometimes manpower and sailors as well -- are counteracted by the removal of unaccepted culture penalties and autonomy penalties. The autonomy modifiers are applied multiplicatively after base tax/manpower/sailor has been modified by additive modifiers such as culture and trade company modifiers. Thus, as long as the additive modifiers do not sum to or below zero -- tax is usually helped by national modifiers -- the tax amount reduced by the -100% penalty is often mitigated by half from removal of culture and autonomy penalties.
• (DLC required) Various Trade Company Investments can mitigate the initial tax/manpower/sailor penalty. (Manpower and sailor investments are under “Governance”. As of 1.27, Governance investments are "hidden" in-game with a side scroll.)

Investments

• Broker's Office / Broker's Exchange: with .3 extra base goods produced in the area, it's a better investment than a manufactory if you have two provinces in the area. Assuming a four province area with goods worth 3 gold, you'll get 1.2 extra trade value per year. Assuming that the payout of production is about 100% after autonomy, that's 0.1 production per month in addition to trade. The amount of trade value that you collect can vary wildly; if for example you steer 90% of the trade value down two nodes at a 10% value increase due to merchants steering trade, and lose 20% to the local node in between, you end up with 1.2 *.9 *1.1 *.8 * 1.1 = 1.045 extra ducats worth of trade in your home node per year. Multiplied by your trade efficiency (let's say 50%), that would be 0.13 extra ducats from trade. However, if you control all the trade through those same nodes, that becomes 0.18 extra trade income per month. Goods produced is a strongly scaling bonus, but in this example a church has a better short term return on investment.
• Company Warehouse / Company Depot: 2 or 4 base trade power per province goes a long way. In a trade company, you can easily get 250% local trade power even without buildings. In a four-province area, this is 40 trade power! It's much better value than upgrading trade centers for trade power, and it gives some extra cash from production as well.
• Settlements / Districts / Company Administration / Military Administration: These look better than they are. Without any reductions to minimum autonomy in territories, your autonomy reduces any tax, manpower and sailors to 10%.
• Township: The army tradition is negligible. You need 40 of these to get 1 army tradition per year. The trade value increase is decent though; it increases your production and potential trade. Note that this applies to your provinces in the entire charter aka the entire trade node, which is great if you have a mix of states and trade company territories (especially on nodes that span two subcontinents, one of which is your home).
• Governor General's Mansion: Having a few sailors is great if you can micro them. Lowering your minimum autonomy in territories is decent. Going from 90 to 85 is a 50% increase in tax, manpower, and sailors as well as a little boost in production. This bonus stacks diminishingly though. Note that this applies to your provinces in the entire charter aka the entire trade node, though I don't think having territories that are not part of a trade company makes sense unless you want to state them later.

Other unspecified benefits

Other benefits not specified in-game include:

• Trade company provinces do not count towards religious unity. Thus, creating trade companies is a good alternative to religious conversion.
• Since trade company provinces do not gain embraced institution spread modifier, adding newly conquered provinces to trade company can be a strategy to slow down institution spread and thus maintaining tech advantage over Asian and African countries (or even Europe for non European countries).
• The lower governing capacity cost of the province could be useful when conquering huge amount of provinces (India or China for example). However, this is counter-balanced by lower Government reform progress (due to autonomy issues).

Trade control by trade companies

As adding a province to a trade company doubles the local trade power, and at the same time if a trade company controls more than 51% of the provincial trade power in its trade node, the owner gains an extra merchant, centers of trade and estuaries which give flat bonuses to base local trade power are of greater importance to trade companies than other provinces of similar development. Constructing trade buildings (and if finances allow, manufactories) in these provinces are valuable for the same reasons. Increasing mercantilism can also help wrestling trade controls for trade companies as each point of mercantilism adds 2% of provincial trade power.

South Africa Charter is a notable trade company region as it is initially fully unoccupied. Thus, any first colonizer of Cape (1177) can gain and maintain a merchant through trade control with little investment.

Footnotes

Mechanics

Customization

Nation designer • Random New World

Ages and Institutions

Ages • Institutions

Innovativeness and Technology

Innovativeness • Technology

Defense

Fort • Zone of control