Import/export HS code 42021211: Plastic or fabric briefcases and school bags

Executive cases, briefcases, and school bags made with outer surfaces of plastic or fabric

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 £
China 5,183,767
France 1,424,149
Netherlands 454,888
Italy 266,758
Poland 230,620

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 £
China 2,604,640 2,579,127 -25,513
France 760,506 663,643 -96,863
Netherlands 431,618 23,270 -408,348
Italy 122,136 144,622 +22,486
Poland 208,726 21,894 -186,832
United States 105,307 66,299 -39,008
Canada 98,533 19,919 -78,614
Switzerland 33,840 54,910 +21,070
Germany 47,347 23,469 -23,878
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 12,908 56,058 +43,150

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 £
China 6,021,726
France 1,021,113
Poland 204,601
Italy 176,958
Cambodia 176,855

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 £
China 3,114,029 2,907,697 -206,332
France 549,203 471,910 -77,293
Poland 182,707 21,894 -160,813
Italy 87,115 89,843 +2,728
Cambodia 148,254 28,601 -119,653
India 109,710 28,630 -81,080
Romania 49,489 86,872 +37,383
United States 72,532 44,380 -28,152
Canada 98,138 4,669 -93,469
Pakistan 50,248 17,592 -32,656

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 29
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 10
Greater Manchester 9
Inner London - East 7
Outer London - West and North West 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
Inner London - West 24 16 -8
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 6 7 +1
Greater Manchester 4 7 +3
Inner London - East 3 5 +2
Outer London - West and North West 6 3 -3
Surrey, East and West Sussex 6 3 -3
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 5 3 -2
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 3 2 -1
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 2 4 +2
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 4 2 -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) 4,021,167
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,360,673
Other 1,272,224
Air transport 649,036
Road transport 40,186

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) 1,696,492 2,324,675 +628,183
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,520,813 839,860 -680,953
Other 967,832 304,392 -663,440
Air transport 368,223 280,813 -87,410
Road transport 0 40,186 +40,186

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 2,490,098
000 1,272,224
Eurotunnel 814,767
Southampton 806,383
Dover 704,360

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 £
Felixstowe 1,372,106 1,117,992 -254,114
000 967,832 304,392 -663,440
Eurotunnel 366,625 448,142 +81,517
Southampton 502,674 303,709 -198,965
Dover 514,905 189,455 -325,450
499 1,241 569,561 +568,320
London Gateway Port 17,669 285,701 +268,032
London Heathrow Airport 152,724 138,599 -14,125
Dover / Eurotunnel 149,035 76,776 -72,259
London Stansted Airport 136,039 54,144 -81,895

Importer companies by SIC division

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

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 57
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 40
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 9
Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities 5
Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products 4

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 18
2025-11 19
2025-10 21
2025-09 17
2025-08 13

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+ 56
1m-15m 37
Other 13
0-1m 11
15m-54m 11

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 439,935
France 334,753
Switzerland 274,690
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 220,489
Germany 173,399

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 165,827 274,108 +108,281
France 126,955 207,798 +80,843
Switzerland 236,448 38,242 -198,206
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 158,847 61,642 -97,205
Germany 83,371 90,028 +6,657
Italy 98,127 58,153 -39,974
Ireland 114,535 21,470 -93,065
Netherlands 86,002 21,783 -64,219
Japan 25,538 74,284 +48,746
United Arab Emirates 56,108 42,118 -13,990

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 £
China 54,465
United States 496
Indonesia 75
XI 21

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 £
China 47,570 6,895 -40,675
United States 0 496 +496
Indonesia 75 0 -75
XI 0 21 +21

Export volume by transport

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

Top 5 values

Transport £
Air transport 1,880,236
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 851,065
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 258,585
Other 64,285

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 £
Air transport 1,135,317 744,919 -390,398
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 498,315 352,750 -145,565
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 38,468 220,117 +181,649
Other 54,747 9,538 -45,209

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
East Midlands Airport 861,751
Dover / Eurotunnel 674,232
London Heathrow Airport 484,997
ZLC 389,944
London Stansted Airport 113,929

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 £
East Midlands Airport 556,417 305,334 -251,083
Dover / Eurotunnel 388,494 285,738 -102,756
London Heathrow Airport 263,914 221,083 -42,831
ZLC 200,601 189,343 -11,258
London Stansted Airport 108,825 5,104 -103,721
Southampton 4,350 103,211 +98,861
Liverpool Docks 11,352 88,665 +77,313
000 54,747 9,538 -45,209
Dover 27,672 26,357 -1,315
London Gateway Port 12,599 26,619 +14,020

Quick facts

HS code: 42021211

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

Description: Executive cases, briefcases, and school bags made with outer surfaces of plastic or fabric