International trade has been going on since ancient times. The French port city of Marseilles was built by Phoenician traders and ancient Roman coins have been found as far as India. Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the West Indies only after having intended to finding a better trading route to the East. But it was only in relatively modern times that we began to see multinational corporations which might for the first international trading company.

There are millions of companies around the world, and a relatively large percentage of them does business internationally. The agricultural trading company is one particularly important company in the Latin American region where they are known as companies that produce productos agricolas de latinoamerica. There are certain companies, like soybean trading companies, which are particularly important.

An international trading company is only one of the organizations whose products end up on another continent. There are numerous other organizations and contractors whose work is processed or shipped by the international trading company. It is in this way that an international trading company, while acting globally, can benefit locally. Numerous people contribute to international trade. As was memorably pointed out in a famous essay, an item as simple, common and cheap as a pencil is only made possible by international trade.

It is likely that international trading companies will become even more influential as the world become more globalized. This is neither a good nor a bad thing. It just means that people will need to be prepared for the challenges as well as the benefits that such a world entails. There are always challenges that follow from international trade, but there is much to be gained from it also. If nothing else, it means that fresh fruit can be available year round, if in one month it comes from New York and the next month from Queensland, Australia.