Import/export HS code 2821: Iron oxides and earth colours

Iron-based compounds and natural pigments, often used in paints, dyes, and construction materials

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 £
Germany 22,207,002
China 15,755,876
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 5,208,698
Italy 3,831,002
Spain 2,357,869

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 £
Germany 11,947,140 10,259,862 -1,687,278
China 5,917,130 9,838,746 +3,921,616
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 5,092,691 116,007 -4,976,684
Italy 1,791,376 2,039,626 +248,250
Spain 1,127,261 1,230,608 +103,347
Belgium 564,745 459,381 -105,364
France 307,002 461,902 +154,900
Netherlands 340,410 300,980 -39,430
India 257,278 98,425 -158,853
Brazil 259,844 82,542 -177,302

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 £
Germany 22,444,865
China 16,082,140
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 5,138,854
Italy 4,114,580
Spain 1,999,435

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 £
Germany 11,971,548 10,473,317 -1,498,231
China 8,636,081 7,446,059 -1,190,022
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 2,636,059 2,502,795 -133,264
Italy 1,825,769 2,288,811 +463,042
Spain 906,016 1,093,419 +187,403
United States 597,143 419,299 -177,844
Netherlands 174,146 211,346 +37,200
France 233,269 148,032 -85,237
Brazil 259,844 103,515 -156,329
India 259,075 100,702 -158,373

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 9
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 6
Shropshire and Staffordshire 6
Kent 5
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 4

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
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 4 7 +3
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 6 4 -2
Shropshire and Staffordshire 6 5 -1
Kent 5 5 +0
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 2 4 +2
Inner London - West 3 3 +0
Lincolnshire 3 3 +0
Greater Manchester 3 1 -2
Merseyside 2 2 +0
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 2 2 +0

Import volume by transport

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

Top 5 values

Transport £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 28,640,897
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 23,933,969
Air transport 583,613
Other 275,539
Road transport 111,738

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 £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 16,934,515 11,706,382 -5,228,133
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 10,814,734 13,119,235 +2,304,501
Air transport 300,756 282,857 -17,899
Other 130,976 144,563 +13,587
Road transport 0 111,738 +111,738

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Immingham Docks 18,946,629
Felixstowe 17,184,713
Eurotunnel 3,969,993
Liverpool Docks 2,923,294
London Gateway Port 2,622,181

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 £
Immingham Docks 10,118,708 8,827,921 -1,290,787
Felixstowe 9,757,360 7,427,353 -2,330,007
Eurotunnel 1,770,122 2,199,871 +429,749
Liverpool Docks 979,874 1,943,420 +963,546
London Gateway Port 1,209,014 1,413,167 +204,153
Dover 596,495 795,181 +198,686
Harwich 575,199 790,841 +215,642
London 775,657 541,933 -233,724
Belfast Port 654,155 188,050 -466,105
ZLC 346,899 177,038 -169,861

Importer companies by SIC division

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

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 26
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 19
Manufacture of food products 13
Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations 6
Other manufacturing 6

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 14
2025-11 19
2025-10 22
2025-09 18
2025-08 15

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+ 44
1m-15m 19
15m-54m 10
0-1m 5
Other 5

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 £
Spain 3,771,488
France 1,289,008
Ireland 1,184,598
Belgium 1,076,094
United States 822,289

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 £
Spain 3,615,968 155,520 -3,460,448
France 246,508 1,042,500 +795,992
Ireland 637,489 547,109 -90,380
Belgium 640,156 435,938 -204,218
United States 363,595 458,694 +95,099
United Arab Emirates 376,835 337,827 -39,008
Germany 332,209 276,786 -55,423
Netherlands 346,075 220,694 -125,381
South Africa 327,379 207,739 -119,640
China 279,212 238,003 -41,209

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 £
XI 48,812
Italy 9,441
XL 6,786
China 6,179
United States 35

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 £
XI 316 48,496 +48,180
Italy 3,111 6,330 +3,219
XL 0 6,786 +6,786
China 1,791 4,388 +2,597
United States 11 24 +13
Germany 0 13 +13

Export volume by transport

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

Top 5 values

Transport £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 9,241,392
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 6,031,660
Air transport 709,228
Other 71,292

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 £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 6,296,172 2,945,220 -3,350,952
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 3,518,155 2,513,505 -1,004,650
Air transport 375,693 333,535 -42,158
Other 5,255 66,037 +60,782

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 6,737,374
London Gateway Port 2,715,950
Southampton 1,507,376
Felixstowe 798,450
Immingham Docks 782,483

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 £
Dover / Eurotunnel 4,703,611 2,033,763 -2,669,848
London Gateway Port 1,359,713 1,356,237 -3,476
Southampton 895,741 611,635 -284,106
Felixstowe 565,548 232,902 -332,646
Immingham Docks 438,329 344,154 -94,175
Liverpool Docks 503,298 233,745 -269,553
Heysham 337,966 318,583 -19,383
Dover 552,801 7,871 -544,930
London Heathrow Airport 278,176 197,854 -80,322
Holyhead 174,598 137,981 -36,617

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 2821

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

Description: Iron-based compounds and natural pigments, often used in paints, dyes, and construction materials