Import/export HS code 321511: Black ink

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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 12,318,889
Netherlands 11,447,348
Japan 4,798,095
France 4,072,679
Belgium 3,750,566

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 6,761,933 5,556,956 -1,204,977
Netherlands 5,955,061 5,492,287 -462,774
Japan 2,327,369 2,470,726 +143,357
France 2,265,590 1,807,089 -458,501
Belgium 2,545,622 1,204,944 -1,340,678
United States 2,064,973 1,573,892 -491,081
Israel 1,121,122 1,359,236 +238,114
Italy 754,024 596,148 -157,876
Singapore 1,162,944 175,147 -987,797
Switzerland 473,233 852,934 +379,701

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 11,367,658
Japan 7,714,417
Netherlands 6,885,666
United States 5,265,307
France 4,776,750

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 6,074,890 5,292,768 -782,122
Japan 4,406,085 3,308,332 -1,097,753
Netherlands 3,621,199 3,264,467 -356,732
United States 2,686,028 2,579,279 -106,749
France 2,599,484 2,177,266 -422,218
Israel 1,439,811 1,389,075 -50,736
Belgium 1,545,813 1,081,467 -464,346
India 1,061,411 1,221,992 +160,581
Switzerland 605,008 770,005 +164,997
Spain 640,774 656,088 +15,314

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 13
Greater Manchester 9
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 8
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 7
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 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
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 10 11 +1
Greater Manchester 8 7 -1
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 5 8 +3
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 5 6 +1
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 6 5 -1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 2 3 +1
Kent 4 3 -1
Merseyside 5 4 -1
Shropshire and Staffordshire 4 3 -1
West Midlands 2 3 +1

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) 29,346,145
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 14,546,524
Air transport 7,711,867
Other 834,620
Road transport 129,426

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) 17,391,927 11,954,218 -5,437,709
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 6,385,989 8,160,535 +1,774,546
Air transport 3,687,922 4,023,945 +336,023
Other 532,458 302,162 -230,296
Road transport 53,017 76,409 +23,392
Rail transport 33,970 7,783 -26,187

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 12,074,034
Eurotunnel 6,308,035
Felixstowe 5,000,763
London Gateway Port 4,627,714
Birmingham Airport 3,183,224

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 £
Dover 6,316,567 5,757,467 -559,100
Eurotunnel 3,514,956 2,793,079 -721,877
Felixstowe 3,441,727 1,559,036 -1,882,691
London Gateway Port 1,681,211 2,946,503 +1,265,292
Birmingham Airport 1,547,480 1,635,744 +88,264
Immingham Docks 1,255,845 1,780,822 +524,977
Thamesport 1,304,009 1,088,266 -215,743
Killingholme 1,679,650 527,618 -1,152,032
Harwich 1,113,777 936,110 -177,667
London 1,251,641 674,799 -576,842

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 21
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 17
Printing and reproduction of recorded media 11
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 10
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 9

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 25
2025-11 29
2025-10 31
2025-09 28
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+ 54
1m-15m 35
15m-54m 12
0-1m 10
Other 9

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 13,575,795
Netherlands 11,794,461
Austria 7,307,852
Germany 4,333,652
China 4,271,286

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 7,203,859 6,371,936 -831,923
Netherlands 6,400,361 5,394,100 -1,006,261
Austria 3,149,069 4,158,783 +1,009,714
Germany 2,836,333 1,497,319 -1,339,014
China 1,916,524 2,354,762 +438,238
Italy 2,927,363 537,130 -2,390,233
Turkey 1,439,913 2,011,904 +571,991
India 1,707,291 1,672,291 -35,000
France 1,580,007 1,268,209 -311,798
Ireland 1,197,132 948,521 -248,611

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 1,038
Nicaragua 26

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 0 1,038 +1,038
Nicaragua 0 26 +26

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) 46,941,709
Air transport 20,492,440
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 19,793,179
Other 13,647
Road transport 5,232

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) 25,636,405 21,305,304 -4,331,101
Air transport 10,258,229 10,234,211 -24,018
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 10,759,288 9,033,891 -1,725,397
Other 7,968 5,679 -2,289
Road transport 5,232 0 -5,232
Rail transport 0 3,385 +3,385

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 33,669,411
London Heathrow Airport 12,019,895
London Gateway Port 7,090,052
Immingham Docks 6,817,417
Southampton 5,178,747

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 18,390,605 15,278,806 -3,111,799
London Heathrow Airport 6,081,713 5,938,182 -143,531
London Gateway Port 3,671,345 3,418,707 -252,638
Immingham Docks 3,920,788 2,896,629 -1,024,159
Southampton 2,797,642 2,381,105 -416,537
Manchester Airport 2,270,156 2,619,215 +349,059
Liverpool Docks 2,673,556 2,130,898 -542,658
Dover 2,084,491 1,683,165 -401,326
East Midlands Airport 1,255,525 961,362 -294,163
Felixstowe 1,087,401 951,528 -135,873

Quick facts

HS code: 321511

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

Description: Black-colored ink for printing, writing, or drawing