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 24,423,523
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 781,074
Denmark 779,078
United States 640,340
Germany 629,400

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 14,725,450 9,698,073 -5,027,377
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 456,755 324,319 -132,436
Denmark 764,787 14,291 -750,496
United States 443,575 196,765 -246,810
Germany 263,178 366,222 +103,044
India 300,938 310,515 +9,577
Italy 305,222 304,344 -878
France 493,457 105,424 -388,033
Netherlands 197,817 361,542 +163,725
Poland 153,612 187,851 +34,239

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 27,437,277
India 638,440
Italy 632,761
France 464,668
Poland 381,681

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 16,690,649 10,746,628 -5,944,021
India 319,547 318,893 -654
Italy 401,748 231,013 -170,735
France 404,196 60,472 -343,724
Poland 192,766 188,915 -3,851
United States 212,341 117,044 -95,297
Germany 154,206 175,066 +20,860
Viet Nam 101,411 187,126 +85,715
Pakistan 173,304 74,435 -98,869
Belgium 87,681 52,407 -35,274

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 31
Greater Manchester 23
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 20
Inner London - East 19

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 41 35 -6
Outer London - West and North West 23 17 -6
Greater Manchester 14 16 +2
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 13 15 +2
Inner London - East 15 9 -6
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 14 6 -8
West Midlands 13 6 -7
Surrey, East and West Sussex 10 10 +0
West Yorkshire 10 10 +0
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 8 9 +1

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) 21,096,480
Air transport 7,172,442
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,729,612
Other 1,159,020
Road transport 146,153

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) 12,673,547 8,422,933 -4,250,614
Air transport 3,967,690 3,204,752 -762,938
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,730,482 999,130 -731,352
Other 1,043,780 115,240 -928,540
Road transport 129,387 16,766 -112,621

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 9,400,857
Southampton 6,811,080
London Gateway Port 3,542,564
Birmingham Airport 2,743,608
London Heathrow Airport 1,902,297

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 6,448,728 2,952,129 -3,496,599
Southampton 4,279,424 2,531,656 -1,747,768
London Gateway Port 1,106,426 2,436,138 +1,329,712
Birmingham Airport 1,414,280 1,329,328 -84,952
London Heathrow Airport 1,218,859 683,438 -535,421
000 1,043,780 115,240 -928,540
London Stansted Airport 418,799 550,707 +131,908
East Midlands Airport 496,842 177,454 -319,388
Eurotunnel 382,390 288,665 -93,725
Dover 353,011 237,221 -115,790

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
142
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
131
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities
25
Other manufacturing
23
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
2026-05 47
2026-04 41
2026-03 34
2026-02 41
2026-01 33

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 136
54m+ 120
0-1m 50
15m-54m 45
Other 40

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 915,812
United States 814,415
Germany 507,893
France 346,366
Belgium 344,922

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 659,735 256,077 -403,658
United States 565,474 248,941 -316,533
Germany 217,433 290,460 +73,027
France 189,240 157,126 -32,114
Belgium 176,005 168,917 -7,088
Poland 139,126 203,089 +63,963
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 149,908 174,245 +24,337
Ireland 222,627 100,531 -122,096
United Arab Emirates 88,094 232,029 +143,935
Italy 218,837 82,901 -135,936

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 26,729
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 26,197 532 -25,665
Pakistan 1,855 128 -1,727
Germany 245 251 +6

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) 2,896,520
Air transport 2,855,955
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,407,459
Other 39,296

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) 1,702,085 1,194,435 -507,650
Air transport 1,842,948 1,013,007 -829,941
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 620,087 787,372 +167,285
Other 37,591 1,705 -35,886

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 2,304,944
London Heathrow Airport 1,450,909
East Midlands Airport 575,457
London Gateway Port 469,002
Southampton 461,258

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 1,277,966 1,026,978 -250,988
London Heathrow Airport 941,211 509,698 -431,513
East Midlands Airport 380,902 194,555 -186,347
London Gateway Port 134,625 334,377 +199,752
Southampton 307,631 153,627 -154,004
ZLC 315,588 86,354 -229,234
London Stansted Airport 154,839 189,308 +34,469
Immingham Docks 166,103 78,015 -88,088
Holyhead 119,453 70,396 -49,057
Felixstowe 82,050 104,078 +22,028

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