Import/export HS code 2805: Alkali and rare-earth metals

Includes metals like sodium, calcium, and rare-earth metals used in batteries, alloys, and electronics

Why this is important if you are looking for potential customers in the UK:

  • It helps you understand the market size for your product in the UK.
  • It provides you with a list of potential leads who have bought similar products.

* UK only, last 24 months analysed

Imports by country

What this shows: Import market volume by exporter country into the UK.

Top 5 values

Country £
United States 27,423,376
France 3,111,122
China 3,033,907
Ireland 1,346,175
Germany 800,894

Countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month volume, right side by second 12-month volume, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Country First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
United States 13,728,343 13,695,033 -33,310
France 1,485,970 1,625,152 +139,182
China 481,733 2,552,174 +2,070,441
Ireland 619,118 727,057 +107,939
Germany 154,623 646,271 +491,648
Netherlands 215,933 304,581 +88,648
Austria 211,442 298,117 +86,675
Japan 5,824 193,565 +187,741
India 68,240 95,404 +27,164
Taiwan 14,570 72,310 +57,740

Imports by country of origin

What this shows: Import volume by production origin country. Differences from exporter-country data can indicate re-export routes.

Top 5 values

Origin £
United States 24,657,831
China 7,391,457
France 2,962,288
Germany 230,714
Japan 199,389

Country of origin rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Origin countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Origin First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
United States 13,119,193 11,538,638 -1,580,555
China 1,578,906 5,812,551 +4,233,645
France 1,415,129 1,547,159 +132,030
Germany 118,669 112,045 -6,624
Japan 5,824 193,565 +187,741
India 68,240 95,404 +27,164
Austria 15,837 140,934 +125,097
Taiwan 48,235 72,310 +24,075
Thailand 0 58,157 +58,157
Russia 18,300 24,876 +6,576

Importers across UK regions

What this shows: Number of importing companies by UK ITL2 region.

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Shropshire and Staffordshire 3
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 2
Cheshire 2
Inner London - West 2
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 1

UK regions rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: UK regions are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month importer count, right side by second 12-month importer count, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

UK region First 12m Second 12m Delta
Shropshire and Staffordshire 1 3 +2
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 2 1 -1
Cheshire 2 2 +0
Inner London - West 2 0 -2
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 1 1 +0
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 1 1 +0
East Central Scotland 0 1 +1
Essex 1 1 +0
Greater Manchester 1 1 +0
Inner London - East 0 1 +1

Import volume by transport

What this shows: Import value by transport mode used to bring goods into the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 29,087,487
Air transport 3,684,919
Other 2,359,837
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,306,564
Road transport 2,233

Transport rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Transport modes are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Transport First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 14,090,139 14,997,348 +907,209
Air transport 879,268 2,805,651 +1,926,383
Other 1,228,047 1,131,790 -96,257
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 878,858 1,427,706 +548,848
Road transport 2,233 0 -2,233

Import volume by port

What this shows: Import value handled by each UK port.

Top 5 values

Port £
Southampton 20,862,966
London Gateway Port 2,748,192
Felixstowe 2,619,751
000 2,359,837
Hull 1,896,285

Port rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Ports are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Port First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Southampton 10,116,843 10,746,123 +629,280
London Gateway Port 2,739,346 8,846 -2,730,500
Felixstowe 428,896 2,190,855 +1,761,959
000 1,228,047 1,131,790 -96,257
Hull 760,202 1,136,083 +375,881
Manchester Airport 109,563 1,402,204 +1,292,641
499 0 757,750 +757,750
London Stansted Airport 283,956 422,728 +138,772
Dover 122,893 488,942 +366,049
Portsmouth 311,556 236,869 -74,687

Importer companies by SIC division

What this shows: Industry breakdown (SIC divisions) of importing companies.

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Manufacture of basic metals 7
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 5
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 4
Manufacture of electrical equipment 3
Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products 3

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-04 5
2026-03 3
2026-02 5
2026-01 5
2025-12 5

Top importers

What this shows: Companies with the highest number of months traded for this HS code.

Importer company size by revenue band

What this shows: Distribution of importers across company revenue bands.

Top 5 values

Revenue Companies
54m+ 11
1m-15m 6
15m-54m 5
0-1m 1
Other 1

Import seasonality

What this shows: Average monthly import pattern from historical data.

Exports by country

What this shows: Export market volume by destination country from the UK.

Top 5 values

Country £
United States 1,866,180
Germany 1,142,950
France 338,822
Australia 263,162
South Africa 244,761

Export countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Destination countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export volume, right side by second 12-month export volume, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Country First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
United States 1,046,236 819,944 -226,292
Germany 456,406 686,544 +230,138
France 173,822 165,000 -8,822
Australia 78,502 184,660 +106,158
South Africa 166,017 78,744 -87,273
Saudi Arabia 187,522 49,331 -138,191
Japan 56,406 79,189 +22,783
Switzerland 60,155 63,544 +3,389
Italy 31,002 66,957 +35,955
Netherlands 37,525 54,761 +17,236

Exports by country of origin

What this shows: Export volume by production origin country. For re-exports, indicates where goods originated before UK export.

Top 5 values

Origin £
Ireland 12,496
XI 6,817
United States 775

Export origin countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Origin countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Origin First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Ireland 0 12,496 +12,496
XI 6,817 0 -6,817
United States 223 552 +329

Export volume by transport

What this shows: Export value by transport mode used to ship goods from the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Air transport 2,016,859
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,607,034
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,520,016
Other 20,255

Export transport rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Transport modes are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Transport First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Air transport 1,138,613 878,246 -260,367
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 819,410 787,624 -31,786
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 655,588 864,428 +208,840
Other 7,207 13,048 +5,841

Export volume by port

What this shows: Export value handled by each UK port.

Top 5 values

Port £
London Stansted Airport 851,580
Dover / Eurotunnel 696,475
Southampton 645,685
Liverpool Docks 629,067
Hull 570,953

Export port rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Ports are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Port First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
London Stansted Airport 377,714 473,866 +96,152
Dover / Eurotunnel 269,567 426,908 +157,341
Southampton 304,097 341,588 +37,491
Liverpool Docks 311,462 317,605 +6,143
Hull 210,717 360,236 +149,519
London Heathrow Airport 395,240 153,400 -241,840
East Midlands Airport 180,804 57,395 -123,409
Manchester Airport 76,315 122,611 +46,296
ZLC 108,540 58,571 -49,969
London Gateway Port 75,563 84,612 +9,049

Related HS codes

What this shows: Sibling or child HS codes in the same classification branch.

Quick facts

HS code: 2805

Coverage: United Kingdom, most metrics for the last 24 months

Description: Includes metals like sodium, calcium, and rare-earth metals used in batteries, alloys, and electronics