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 26,048,064
Netherlands 3,897,661
Italy 1,664,990
Czechia 1,457,727
Cambodia 1,275,755

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 14,481,213 11,566,851 -2,914,362
Netherlands 2,120,850 1,776,811 -344,039
Italy 1,044,465 620,525 -423,940
Czechia 907,382 550,345 -357,037
Cambodia 478,247 797,508 +319,261
France 688,461 525,046 -163,415
Belgium 413,673 714,079 +300,406
Germany 538,921 482,713 -56,208
United States 350,492 659,843 +309,351
India 297,816 354,788 +56,972

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 33,030,923
Indonesia 2,010,431
Italy 1,817,327
Cambodia 1,573,337
Viet Nam 1,306,892

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 18,277,718 14,753,205 -3,524,513
Indonesia 1,128,655 881,776 -246,879
Italy 1,189,195 628,132 -561,063
Cambodia 580,826 992,511 +411,685
Viet Nam 459,705 847,187 +387,482
India 444,247 409,814 -34,433
United States 184,236 470,374 +286,138
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 94,463 89,425 -5,038
Romania 77,831 103,021 +25,190
Germany 103,709 67,144 -36,565

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 27
Greater Manchester 21
Inner London - East 21
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 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 40 32 -8
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 18 21 +3
Greater Manchester 15 14 -1
Inner London - East 11 12 +1
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 11 9 -2
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 11 11 +0
Surrey, East and West Sussex 10 11 +1
Outer London - West and North West 7 9 +2
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 5 8 +3
Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 7 4 -3

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) 19,649,212
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 12,157,519
Air transport 9,142,191
Other 2,272,564
Road transport 54,797

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) 9,300,514 10,348,698 +1,048,184
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 7,990,065 4,167,454 -3,822,611
Air transport 4,278,951 4,863,240 +584,289
Other 1,646,429 626,135 -1,020,294
Road transport 22,936 31,861 +8,925

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 15,438,588
Southampton 4,271,156
London Heathrow Airport 2,784,010
000 2,272,564
London Gateway Port 2,221,363

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 9,485,709 5,952,879 -3,532,830
Southampton 2,002,255 2,268,901 +266,646
London Heathrow Airport 1,430,336 1,353,674 -76,662
000 1,646,429 626,135 -1,020,294
London Gateway Port 348,604 1,872,759 +1,524,155
499 238,411 1,762,360 +1,523,949
Dover / Eurotunnel 1,349,895 611,982 -737,913
Birmingham Airport 1,157,519 670,482 -487,037
Harwich 991,368 822,069 -169,299
Dover 996,355 746,924 -249,431

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 125
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 122
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
2026-04 40
2026-03 47
2026-02 46
2026-01 34
2025-12 48

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+ 115
1m-15m 112
0-1m 41
Other 39
15m-54m 28

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 878,423
China 827,145
Netherlands 704,569
Germany 669,521
United States 512,002

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 517,384 361,039 -156,345
China 456,311 370,834 -85,477
Netherlands 362,165 342,404 -19,761
Germany 309,678 359,843 +50,165
United States 327,878 184,124 -143,754
Belgium 57,436 424,351 +366,915
Ireland 216,152 244,887 +28,735
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 256,478 77,440 -179,038
United Arab Emirates 35,359 287,235 +251,876
Canada 237,145 75,784 -161,361

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 36,130
Taiwan 1,113
Spain 1,059
India 222
Indonesia 83

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 15,416 20,714 +5,298
Taiwan 0 1,113 +1,113
Spain 138 921 +783
India 21 201 +180
Indonesia 83 0 -83
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 4,098,572
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 3,310,918
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 883,951
Other 60,586
Road transport 2,925

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 2,131,332 1,967,240 -164,092
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,362,072 1,948,846 +586,774
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 599,367 284,584 -314,783
Other 29,206 31,380 +2,174
Road transport 2,925 0 -2,925

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 2,012,761
London Heathrow Airport 1,804,337
East Midlands Airport 1,350,375
Dover 866,532
ZLC 443,197

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 783,521 1,229,240 +445,719
London Heathrow Airport 979,835 824,502 -155,333
East Midlands Airport 727,881 622,494 -105,387
Dover 365,323 501,209 +135,886
ZLC 264,957 178,240 -86,717
London Gateway Port 257,256 103,686 -153,570
Southampton 105,836 134,866 +29,030
Holyhead 92,396 133,327 +40,931
Birmingham Airport 1,288 178,235 +176,947
Immingham Docks 91,413 51,507 -39,906

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