Import/export HS code 2901: Acyclic Hydrocarbons

Simple carbon-based chemicals with no rings in their structure. Used as fuels, solvents, and in making other chemicals

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 419,511,307
Belgium 44,813,010
Latvia 37,962,649
Netherlands 28,402,907
Germany 24,130,039

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 212,260,504 207,250,803 -5,009,701
Belgium 21,659,080 23,153,930 +1,494,850
Latvia 17,242,325 20,720,324 +3,477,999
Netherlands 11,529,047 16,873,860 +5,344,813
Germany 13,496,927 10,633,112 -2,863,815
China 6,782,165 14,178,140 +7,395,975
Spain 6,732,758 1,500,975 -5,231,783
Libya 6,584,068 0 -6,584,068
South Korea 1,763,413 3,949,560 +2,186,147
France 1,699,438 2,055,115 +355,677

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 428,649,462
Lithuania 37,954,359
Belgium 33,211,721
Germany 28,531,602
China 21,134,853

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 217,325,218 211,324,244 -6,000,974
Lithuania 17,241,331 20,713,028 +3,471,697
Belgium 13,943,714 19,268,007 +5,324,293
Germany 14,882,718 13,648,884 -1,233,834
China 7,026,594 14,108,259 +7,081,665
Netherlands 7,819,562 12,197,402 +4,377,840
Spain 7,210,438 2,085,158 -5,125,280
South Korea 3,042,957 4,678,936 +1,635,979
Libya 6,584,068 0 -6,584,068
Ireland 537,010 2,045,037 +1,508,027

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Surrey, East and West Sussex 12
Essex 9
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 7
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 7
Kent 7

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
Surrey, East and West Sussex 9 7 -2
Essex 6 8 +2
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 5 5 +0
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 6 4 -2
Kent 5 7 +2
Cheshire 5 5 +0
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 6 5 -1
Inner London - West 6 3 -3
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 4 5 +1
West Yorkshire 6 3 -3

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) 574,830,147
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 33,244,919
Other 3,937,702
Air transport 3,920,148
Road transport 22,039

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) 281,886,816 292,943,331 +11,056,515
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 19,802,830 13,442,089 -6,360,741
Other 1,805,185 2,132,517 +327,332
Air transport 2,133,590 1,786,558 -347,032
Road transport 8,783 13,256 +4,473

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Grangemouth Docks 485,366,126
Southampton 27,978,066
Felixstowe 21,443,939
Immingham Docks 18,257,669
Middlesbrough 17,861,113

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 £
Grangemouth Docks 251,936,199 233,429,927 -18,506,272
Southampton 3,537,614 24,440,452 +20,902,838
Felixstowe 6,845,440 14,598,499 +7,753,059
Immingham Docks 8,004,644 10,253,025 +2,248,381
Middlesbrough 10,866,300 6,994,813 -3,871,487
London 9,211,699 8,508,219 -703,480
Killingholme 3,787,244 303,838 -3,483,406
Dover 1,704,787 2,274,136 +569,349
000 1,805,185 2,132,517 +327,332
Hull 933,374 1,349,695 +416,321

Importer companies by SIC division

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

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 44
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 34
Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities 8
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 8
Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products 7

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-04 33
2026-03 38
2026-02 35
2026-01 30
2025-12 28

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+ 70
1m-15m 30
15m-54m 16
Other 9
0-1m 4

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 £
Belgium 359,130,112
Netherlands 214,629,924
Sweden 36,830,360
Germany 36,008,906
France 24,950,112

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 £
Belgium 214,021,741 145,108,371 -68,913,370
Netherlands 141,178,267 73,451,657 -67,726,610
Sweden 15,329,315 21,501,045 +6,171,730
Germany 22,555,180 13,453,726 -9,101,454
France 6,673,725 18,276,387 +11,602,662
Ireland 2,151,658 2,677,856 +526,198
Italy 3,412,226 311,185 -3,101,041
Colombia 3,265,563 10,080 -3,255,483
United States 737,909 2,405,650 +1,667,741
Spain 236,449 2,893,074 +2,656,625

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 290,918
China 14
United States 13
Germany 12

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 85,850 205,068 +119,218
China 14 0 -14
United States 13 0 -13
Germany 12 0 -12

Export volume by transport

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

Top 5 values

Transport £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 659,556,440
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 37,213,036
Air transport 4,297,364
Other 291,513

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 £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 395,893,848 263,662,592 -132,231,256
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 18,131,834 19,081,202 +949,368
Air transport 2,287,361 2,010,003 -277,358
Other 86,108 205,405 +119,297

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Grangemouth Docks 544,972,166
Middlesbrough 78,807,605
Immingham Docks 31,950,162
Dover / Eurotunnel 26,995,266
Felixstowe 2,983,641

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 £
Grangemouth Docks 324,143,109 220,829,057 -103,314,052
Middlesbrough 45,513,191 33,294,414 -12,218,777
Immingham Docks 23,757,437 8,192,725 -15,564,712
Dover / Eurotunnel 14,006,783 12,988,483 -1,018,300
Felixstowe 1,630,718 1,352,923 -277,795
Liverpool Docks 1,082,245 1,293,319 +211,074
London Heathrow Airport 1,061,522 1,263,195 +201,673
London Gateway Port 1,437,195 800,318 -636,877
Southampton 770,256 1,294,964 +524,708
Holyhead 693,632 1,078,057 +384,425

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 2901

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

Description: Simple carbon-based chemicals with no rings in their structure. Used as fuels, solvents, and in making other chemicals