Import/export HS code 42021990: Containers made from other materials

Containers made from materials not covered in other codes, such as paperboard or vulcanised fibre

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 25,427,442
Denmark 1,296,073
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 766,136
United States 732,904
France 692,059

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 15,012,604 10,414,838 -4,597,766
Denmark 1,210,187 85,886 -1,124,301
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 490,562 275,574 -214,988
United States 402,603 330,301 -72,302
France 552,196 139,863 -412,333
Germany 318,095 279,548 -38,547
Italy 345,105 235,903 -109,202
Netherlands 173,061 344,265 +171,204
India 232,019 256,345 +24,326
Belgium 262,184 68,977 -193,207

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 28,878,078
Italy 665,907
France 550,688
India 514,787
United States 404,275

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 17,484,978 11,393,100 -6,091,878
Italy 432,041 233,866 -198,175
France 465,898 84,790 -381,108
India 248,364 266,423 +18,059
United States 195,258 209,017 +13,759
Germany 180,985 152,456 -28,529
Poland 157,421 170,172 +12,751
Pakistan 146,992 139,653 -7,339
Viet Nam 40,727 236,585 +195,858
Belgium 115,349 53,523 -61,826

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 58
Outer London - West and North West 29
Greater Manchester 27
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 22
Inner London - East 21

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 39 31 -8
Outer London - West and North West 23 13 -10
Greater Manchester 19 16 -3
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 17 7 -10
Inner London - East 15 9 -6
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 14 11 -3
West Midlands 14 9 -5
Surrey, East and West Sussex 11 9 -2
West Yorkshire 10 11 +1
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 11 7 -4

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) 21,778,329
Air transport 6,899,023
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,988,942
Other 2,034,642
Road transport 158,016

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) 12,602,410 9,175,919 -3,426,491
Air transport 3,916,918 2,982,105 -934,813
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,192,448 796,494 -1,395,954
Other 1,666,561 368,081 -1,298,480
Road transport 99,708 58,308 -41,400

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 10,581,435
Southampton 6,934,270
London Gateway Port 2,614,208
Birmingham Airport 2,332,233
000 2,034,642

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 7,129,615 3,451,820 -3,677,795
Southampton 3,866,826 3,067,444 -799,382
London Gateway Port 619,488 1,994,720 +1,375,232
Birmingham Airport 1,193,345 1,138,888 -54,457
000 1,666,561 368,081 -1,298,480
London Heathrow Airport 1,358,974 660,064 -698,910
London Stansted Airport 328,928 632,604 +303,676
East Midlands Airport 604,837 202,779 -402,058
Immingham Docks 634,705 91,138 -543,567
Eurotunnel 434,565 181,511 -253,054

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 136
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 133
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 27
Other manufacturing 22
Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities 14

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 33
2025-11 54
2025-10 47
2025-09 36
2025-08 38

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
1m-15m 134
54m+ 124
0-1m 49
15m-54m 45
Other 39

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 £
Netherlands 954,157
United States 768,555
United Arab Emirates 487,030
Germany 432,566
France 369,584

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 £
Netherlands 586,585 367,572 -219,013
United States 489,435 279,120 -210,315
United Arab Emirates 244,579 242,451 -2,128
Germany 218,227 214,339 -3,888
France 201,922 167,662 -34,260
Norway 307,522 59,551 -247,971
Italy 98,543 239,622 +141,079
China 213,124 119,974 -93,150
Ireland 265,589 65,138 -200,451
Qatar 143,847 176,813 +32,966

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 26,480
Pakistan 1,983
Germany 496

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 644 25,836 +25,192
Pakistan 1,855 128 -1,727
Germany 0 496 +496

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 3,266,809
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,790,055
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,506,932
Other 38,653
Road transport 1,471

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 1,908,245 1,358,564 -549,681
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,557,886 1,232,169 -325,717
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 741,466 765,466 +24,000
Other 11,891 26,762 +14,871
Road transport 1,471 0 -1,471

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 2,165,953
London Heathrow Airport 1,436,045
East Midlands Airport 922,708
Immingham Docks 507,768
ZLC 445,347

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 1,092,022 1,073,931 -18,091
London Heathrow Airport 618,022 818,023 +200,001
East Midlands Airport 668,949 253,759 -415,190
Immingham Docks 424,801 82,967 -341,834
ZLC 326,405 118,942 -207,463
Southampton 204,475 199,106 -5,369
London Gateway Port 91,881 302,361 +210,480
London Stansted Airport 221,006 137,179 -83,827
Felixstowe 119,522 79,234 -40,288
Holyhead 129,464 51,728 -77,736

Quick facts

HS code: 42021990

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

Description: Containers made from materials not covered in other codes, such as paperboard or vulcanised fibre