Import/export HS code 3205: Color lakes and preparations

Color lakes used in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals, often mixed with other substances

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 £
Peru 7,195,638
United States 1,842,259
Netherlands 1,105,916
India 668,054
Germany 509,485

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 £
Peru 3,024,834 4,170,804 +1,145,970
United States 712,947 1,129,312 +416,365
Netherlands 759,801 346,115 -413,686
India 229,544 438,510 +208,966
Germany 84,466 425,019 +340,553
Ireland 279,345 168,590 -110,755
Spain 110,324 201,647 +91,323
Belgium 105,177 173,346 +68,169
France 125,932 142,684 +16,752
Australia 90,690 0 -90,690

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 £
Peru 7,734,444
United States 1,863,260
India 759,089
Germany 291,032
Netherlands 149,257

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 £
Peru 3,188,592 4,545,852 +1,357,260
United States 745,654 1,117,606 +371,952
India 265,639 493,450 +227,811
Germany 99,170 191,862 +92,692
Netherlands 56,754 92,503 +35,749
United Kingdom 75,484 59,362 -16,122
Italy 18,461 72,266 +53,805
Spain 47,150 14,973 -32,177
Belgium 26,173 6,471 -19,702
Turkey 11,126 20,119 +8,993

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Kent 5
West Yorkshire 5
Inner London - West 3
Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear 3
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 2

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
Kent 5 3 -2
West Yorkshire 2 5 +3
Inner London - West 2 1 -1
Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear 3 2 -1
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 0 2 +2
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 1 2 +1
Lancashire 2 0 -2
Lincolnshire 1 2 +1
Merseyside 1 2 +1
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 2 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 £
Air transport 7,757,399
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 2,324,051
Other 1,730,909
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,141,269
Road transport 13,818

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 £
Air transport 3,175,884 4,581,515 +1,405,631
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 824,495 1,499,556 +675,061
Other 1,006,351 724,558 -281,793
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 561,009 580,260 +19,251
Road transport 2,073 11,745 +9,672

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 4,507,728
East Midlands Airport 3,035,252
000 1,730,909
Southampton 1,152,836
London 942,160

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 £
London Heathrow Airport 2,038,408 2,469,320 +430,912
East Midlands Airport 1,071,711 1,963,541 +891,830
000 1,006,351 724,558 -281,793
Southampton 365,852 786,984 +421,132
London 411,248 530,912 +119,664
Felixstowe 180,444 373,805 +193,361
Eurotunnel 119,360 206,983 +87,623
Dover 95,964 69,952 -26,012
London Gateway Port 124,303 27,347 -96,956
Leeds Bradford Airport 39,850 78,277 +38,427

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
15
Manufacture of food products
12
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
10
Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations
5
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
4

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-05 17
2026-04 5
2026-03 12
2026-02 11
2026-01 8

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+ 25
1m-15m 14
15m-54m 10
0-1m 2
Other 2

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 £
Turkey 5,917,349
Egypt 4,370,740
Italy 3,674,049
Spain 2,616,028
France 2,202,043

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 £
Turkey 2,336,220 3,581,129 +1,244,909
Egypt 2,761,433 1,609,307 -1,152,126
Italy 1,878,368 1,795,681 -82,687
Spain 1,182,090 1,433,938 +251,848
France 1,099,477 1,102,566 +3,089
Pakistan 960,664 1,055,992 +95,328
Germany 676,997 1,188,931 +511,934
Poland 662,205 938,013 +275,808
Ireland 698,760 752,167 +53,407
Belgium 447,951 742,368 +294,417

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 17,765

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 9,399 8,366 -1,033

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) 26,682,702
Air transport 10,066,397
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 5,220,033
Other 17,765

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) 11,867,060 14,815,642 +2,948,582
Air transport 5,249,294 4,817,103 -432,191
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 2,835,978 2,384,055 -451,923
Other 9,399 8,366 -1,033

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 23,992,878
London Heathrow Airport 9,494,593
London Gateway Port 4,037,732
Dover 1,103,174
Holyhead 1,072,382

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 10,696,754 13,296,124 +2,599,370
London Heathrow Airport 4,985,209 4,509,384 -475,825
London Gateway Port 2,317,361 1,720,371 -596,990
Dover 450,439 652,735 +202,296
Holyhead 413,387 658,995 +245,608
Felixstowe 402,422 175,531 -226,891
Southampton 109,407 434,779 +325,372
Manchester Airport 138,833 220,448 +81,615
Heysham 173,873 46,618 -127,255
East Midlands Airport 94,629 35,486 -59,143

Quick facts

HS code: 3205

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

Description: Color lakes used in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals, often mixed with other substances