Import/export HS code 42021291: 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 24,245,577
Netherlands 3,708,609
Italy 1,438,491
Czechia 1,398,691
Cambodia 1,242,856

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 14,170,140 10,075,437 -4,094,703
Netherlands 2,106,828 1,601,781 -505,047
Italy 807,333 631,158 -176,175
Czechia 856,182 542,509 -313,673
Cambodia 523,799 719,057 +195,258
France 682,129 420,744 -261,385
Belgium 739,480 348,951 -390,529
United States 417,657 597,163 +179,506
Germany 518,812 457,607 -61,205
India 432,746 229,561 -203,185

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 30,736,140
Indonesia 1,959,953
Cambodia 1,557,662
Italy 1,524,315
Viet Nam 1,259,237

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 17,813,836 12,922,304 -4,891,532
Indonesia 1,148,339 811,614 -336,725
Cambodia 635,377 922,285 +286,908
Italy 943,379 580,936 -362,443
Viet Nam 743,441 515,796 -227,645
India 544,661 285,751 -258,910
United States 227,066 459,195 +232,129
Romania 90,458 97,461 +7,003
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 95,082 83,397 -11,685
Germany 101,832 67,144 -34,688

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 55
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 29
Inner London - East 22
Greater Manchester 18
Surrey, East and West Sussex 16

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 43 29 -14
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 22 20 -2
Inner London - East 11 13 +2
Greater Manchester 14 13 -1
Surrey, East and West Sussex 14 9 -5
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 10 9 -1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 9 10 +1
Outer London - West and North West 7 9 +2
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 6 8 +2
Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 6 4 -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) 18,339,608
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 11,258,406
Air transport 8,812,109
Other 2,063,879
Road transport 95,555

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) 9,434,130 8,905,478 -528,652
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 7,725,782 3,532,624 -4,193,158
Air transport 4,268,550 4,543,559 +275,009
Other 1,689,179 374,700 -1,314,479
Road transport 26,619 68,936 +42,317

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 13,903,627
Southampton 4,134,773
London Heathrow Airport 2,553,400
London Gateway Port 2,437,881
499 2,148,343

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 9,003,572 4,900,055 -4,103,517
Southampton 2,081,229 2,053,544 -27,685
London Heathrow Airport 1,408,288 1,145,112 -263,176
London Gateway Port 745,019 1,692,862 +947,843
499 213,628 1,934,715 +1,721,087
000 1,689,179 374,700 -1,314,479
Dover / Eurotunnel 1,195,665 552,961 -642,704
Birmingham Airport 1,124,998 544,265 -580,733
Harwich 939,803 720,064 -219,739
Eurotunnel 900,787 708,300 -192,487

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
120
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
119
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities
15
Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities
11
Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products
10

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-05 43
2026-04 40
2026-03 47
2026-02 46
2026-01 34

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+ 116
1m-15m 105
0-1m 42
Other 38
15m-54m 27

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 £
France 722,917
China 716,661
Netherlands 684,869
Germany 661,195
Belgium 567,007

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 £
France 383,122 339,795 -43,327
China 408,172 308,489 -99,683
Netherlands 359,419 325,450 -33,969
Germany 357,110 304,085 -53,025
Belgium 83,256 483,751 +400,495
United States 291,802 192,590 -99,212
Ireland 249,806 183,275 -66,531
United Arab Emirates 49,232 275,630 +226,398
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 247,052 75,191 -171,861
Canada 229,424 86,595 -142,829

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 35,064
Taiwan 1,244
Spain 1,113
India 201
Ireland 63

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 14,304 20,760 +6,456
Taiwan 0 1,244 +1,244
Spain 138 975 +837
India 0 201 +201
Ireland 63 0 -63
Cambodia 63 0 -63
Denmark 0 30 +30

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 3,861,216
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 3,317,484
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 817,765
Other 52,076
Road transport 1,188

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 2,029,981 1,831,235 -198,746
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,375,544 1,941,940 +566,396
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 543,731 274,034 -269,697
Other 27,193 24,883 -2,310
Road transport 1,188 0 -1,188

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 2,029,360
London Heathrow Airport 1,711,314
East Midlands Airport 1,298,757
Dover 860,661
London Gateway Port 372,475

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 760,237 1,269,123 +508,886
London Heathrow Airport 935,912 775,402 -160,510
East Midlands Airport 728,709 570,048 -158,661
Dover 397,018 463,643 +66,625
London Gateway Port 280,046 92,429 -187,617
ZLC 193,162 169,917 -23,245
Southampton 123,632 113,548 -10,084
Holyhead 90,679 119,143 +28,464
Birmingham Airport 1,288 178,235 +176,947
Immingham Docks 91,389 55,850 -35,539

Quick facts

HS code: 42021291

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