Import/export HS code 340242: Non-ionic surface-active agents

Cleaning agents without a charge, used in detergents and emulsifiers

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 103,118,166
Netherlands 65,619,412
Italy 33,471,682
Ireland 18,804,666
Belgium 16,408,357

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 50,716,185 52,401,981 +1,685,796
Netherlands 35,043,155 30,576,257 -4,466,898
Italy 21,691,676 11,780,006 -9,911,670
Ireland 10,121,977 8,682,689 -1,439,288
Belgium 11,257,328 5,151,029 -6,106,299
France 6,677,387 6,491,867 -185,520
Poland 5,570,971 3,980,362 -1,590,609
Slovakia 5,246,644 3,274,208 -1,972,436
United States 4,241,727 2,946,172 -1,295,555
New Zealand 4,511,261 2,320,358 -2,190,903

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 83,716,175
Netherlands 68,637,563
Italy 37,509,617
United States 34,864,786
Belgium 15,155,822

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 41,979,220 41,736,955 -242,265
Netherlands 36,878,349 31,759,214 -5,119,135
Italy 24,334,065 13,175,552 -11,158,513
United States 18,825,915 16,038,871 -2,787,044
Belgium 8,028,348 7,127,474 -900,874
Poland 6,328,741 4,749,731 -1,579,010
Slovakia 5,828,955 3,387,750 -2,441,205
France 4,464,767 4,087,797 -376,970
Spain 3,554,424 3,544,708 -9,716
New Zealand 4,512,629 2,322,290 -2,190,339

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Greater Manchester 45
West Yorkshire 27
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 25
Inner London - West 25
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 20

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
Greater Manchester 36 34 -2
West Yorkshire 20 25 +5
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 17 22 +5
Inner London - West 21 18 -3
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 19 13 -6
Cheshire 15 11 -4
Lancashire 13 11 -2
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 10 9 -1
Surrey, East and West Sussex 11 8 -3
Merseyside 12 9 -3

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) 187,777,575
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 116,156,072
Air transport 5,275,897
Other 4,498,923
Road transport 682,588

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) 100,124,152 87,653,423 -12,470,729
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 65,892,536 50,263,536 -15,629,000
Air transport 2,687,996 2,587,901 -100,095
Other 3,221,332 1,277,591 -1,943,741
Road transport 289,284 393,304 +104,020
Rail transport 4,857 0 -4,857

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Immingham Docks 102,557,733
London 55,948,189
Dover 26,997,104
Felixstowe 21,184,780
Middlesbrough 18,328,252

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 54,070,408 48,487,325 -5,583,083
London 29,044,216 26,903,973 -2,140,243
Dover 13,996,499 13,000,605 -995,894
Felixstowe 11,805,930 9,378,850 -2,427,080
Middlesbrough 10,195,744 8,132,508 -2,063,236
Holyhead 9,192,994 8,601,350 -591,644
Hull 8,672,046 5,698,103 -2,973,943
Killingholme 7,724,095 3,033,937 -4,690,158
London Gateway Port 5,665,514 3,246,364 -2,419,150
Eurotunnel 4,808,862 4,102,458 -706,404

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 173
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 90
Other manufacturing 31
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 19
Manufacture of food products 18

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 130
2025-11 113
2025-10 139
2025-09 118
2025-08 122

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+ 201
1m-15m 130
15m-54m 55
Other 25
0-1m 24

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 £
China 9,225,140
Germany 8,112,264
United States 8,083,780
Ireland 7,457,668
France 7,346,723

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 £
China 722,496 8,502,644 +7,780,148
Germany 4,616,164 3,496,100 -1,120,064
United States 5,057,275 3,026,505 -2,030,770
Ireland 4,275,208 3,182,460 -1,092,748
France 2,997,939 4,348,784 +1,350,845
Netherlands 2,453,473 2,745,614 +292,141
Italy 2,239,064 2,099,276 -139,788
Spain 2,246,576 1,717,496 -529,080
Poland 1,752,236 1,488,079 -264,157
India 1,419,818 1,509,239 +89,421

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 262,826
Czechia 39,178
Poland 7,844
Belgium 1,209
Italy 23

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 153,787 109,039 -44,748
Czechia 25,386 13,792 -11,594
Poland 0 7,844 +7,844
Belgium 284 925 +641
Italy 0 23 +23

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) 47,063,604
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 34,656,364
Air transport 12,985,830
Other 318,767
Rail transport 2,010

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) 24,671,744 22,391,860 -2,279,884
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 20,600,592 14,055,772 -6,544,820
Air transport 2,680,062 10,305,768 +7,625,706
Other 186,130 132,637 -53,493
Rail transport 2,010 0 -2,010

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 23,340,849
London Gateway Port 12,190,101
Immingham Docks 12,015,941
ZLC 8,224,759
Southampton 6,702,544

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 13,109,477 10,231,372 -2,878,105
London Gateway Port 7,496,248 4,693,853 -2,802,395
Immingham Docks 6,342,613 5,673,328 -669,285
ZLC 67,773 8,156,986 +8,089,213
Southampton 3,577,093 3,125,451 -451,642
Liverpool Docks 3,351,083 2,074,781 -1,276,302
Felixstowe 2,487,031 2,672,296 +185,265
London 1,004,415 2,424,633 +1,420,218
Holyhead 1,771,996 1,625,821 -146,175
Grangemouth Docks 2,015,954 911,134 -1,104,820

Quick facts

HS code: 340242

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

Description: Cleaning agents without a charge, used in detergents and emulsifiers