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 403,998,855
Belgium 39,035,692
Latvia 38,016,171
Netherlands 26,642,429
Germany 21,833,040

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 196,591,762 207,407,093 +10,815,331
Belgium 17,654,607 21,381,085 +3,726,478
Latvia 18,934,200 19,081,971 +147,771
Netherlands 11,075,008 15,567,421 +4,492,413
Germany 13,065,276 8,767,764 -4,297,512
China 6,428,807 10,513,375 +4,084,568
Spain 7,094,731 2,262,217 -4,832,514
Libya 6,584,068 0 -6,584,068
South Korea 1,957,974 2,429,876 +471,902
France 1,275,110 2,305,313 +1,030,203

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 410,454,998
Lithuania 36,253,858
Belgium 29,424,271
Germany 26,308,857
Netherlands 19,565,842

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 199,468,467 210,986,531 +11,518,064
Lithuania 17,179,183 19,074,675 +1,895,492
Belgium 11,820,505 17,603,766 +5,783,261
Germany 14,751,797 11,557,060 -3,194,737
Netherlands 7,920,805 11,645,037 +3,724,232
China 6,681,943 10,325,681 +3,643,738
Spain 7,515,610 2,639,260 -4,876,350
Libya 8,338,091 0 -8,338,091
South Korea 3,233,766 3,435,711 +201,945
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 11
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 7
Essex 7
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 7
Cheshire 6

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

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) 545,382,013
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 32,278,680
Air transport 3,814,459
Other 3,443,125
Road transport 27,561

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) 263,022,210 282,359,803 +19,337,593
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 19,477,010 12,801,670 -6,675,340
Air transport 2,180,394 1,634,065 -546,329
Other 1,712,012 1,731,113 +19,101
Road transport 15,500 12,061 -3,439

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Grangemouth Docks 466,308,978
Southampton 23,366,074
Middlesbrough 19,287,803
Felixstowe 17,259,343
London 16,369,053

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 229,821,620 236,487,358 +6,665,738
Southampton 3,383,267 19,982,807 +16,599,540
Middlesbrough 14,903,019 4,384,784 -10,518,235
Felixstowe 6,771,341 10,488,002 +3,716,661
London 9,020,864 7,348,189 -1,672,675
Immingham Docks 7,688,746 8,383,053 +694,307
Killingholme 3,579,793 907,402 -2,672,391
Dover 1,612,123 2,246,380 +634,257
000 1,712,012 1,731,113 +19,101
Holyhead 2,569 2,045,469 +2,042,900

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 38
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 33
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
2026-01 30
2025-11 38
2025-10 36
2025-09 32
2025-08 32

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+ 66
1m-15m 27
15m-54m 14
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 344,234,836
Netherlands 251,277,063
Sweden 40,989,999
Germany 37,354,995
France 28,056,593

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 220,489,387 123,745,449 -96,743,938
Netherlands 177,631,802 73,645,261 -103,986,541
Sweden 11,291,242 29,698,757 +18,407,515
Germany 13,547,450 23,807,545 +10,260,095
France 16,203,987 11,852,606 -4,351,381
Italy 1,578,938 3,318,858 +1,739,920
Ireland 2,168,501 2,229,472 +60,971
Colombia 3,241,475 27,163 -3,214,312
Spain 242,995 2,860,690 +2,617,695
United States 779,416 1,398,149 +618,733

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 259,404
United States 50
China 39
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 66,726 192,678 +125,952
United States 50 0 -50
China 39 0 -39
Germany 0 12 +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) 694,013,024
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 32,825,663
Air transport 3,324,610
Other 259,740

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) 431,947,579 262,065,445 -169,882,134
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 19,104,353 13,721,310 -5,383,043
Air transport 2,453,858 870,752 -1,583,106
Other 67,027 192,713 +125,686

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Grangemouth Docks 584,851,956
Middlesbrough 65,558,261
Immingham Docks 39,481,862
Dover / Eurotunnel 24,169,210
Felixstowe 2,520,705

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 363,270,323 221,581,633 -141,688,690
Middlesbrough 42,732,081 22,826,180 -19,905,901
Immingham Docks 24,865,575 14,616,287 -10,249,288
Dover / Eurotunnel 14,008,767 10,160,443 -3,848,324
Felixstowe 1,407,243 1,113,462 -293,781
Liverpool Docks 1,165,030 1,213,730 +48,700
London Gateway Port 1,200,560 929,843 -270,717
Southampton 910,687 1,087,684 +176,997
London Heathrow Airport 1,013,580 500,700 -512,880
Holyhead 717,231 718,109 +878

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