Import/export HS code 4906: Architectural and engineering plans

Original hand-drawn plans, blueprints, and designs for buildings, machinery, or maps. Includes handwritten notes and photocopies

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 £
United States 2,726,898
France 1,927,637
Germany 1,110,230
Japan 204,450
Sweden 147,361

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 £
United States 1,323,546 1,403,352 +79,806
France 1,805,131 122,506 -1,682,625
Germany 935,706 174,524 -761,182
Japan 15,087 189,363 +174,276
Sweden 71,041 76,320 +5,279
Italy 30,892 88,080 +57,188
Ireland 66,425 19,193 -47,232
Austria 17,299 35,386 +18,087
Australia 49,652 0 -49,652
Spain 44,760 2,885 -41,875

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 £
United States 2,553,479
France 1,860,125
Germany 1,152,583
Japan 201,294
United Kingdom 154,559

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 £
United States 1,193,698 1,359,781 +166,083
France 1,797,863 62,262 -1,735,601
Germany 967,633 184,950 -782,683
Japan 11,931 189,363 +177,432
United Kingdom 139,924 14,635 -125,289
Italy 55,844 65,903 +10,059
Algeria 0 82,087 +82,087
India 16,958 54,437 +37,479
Spain 47,074 17,406 -29,668
Austria 18,838 35,386 +16,548

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 10
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 5
Inner London - East 4
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 3
Greater Manchester 3

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 6 5 -1
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 3 2 -1
Inner London - East 2 2 +0
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 2 1 -1
Greater Manchester 1 2 +1
Lancashire 3 0 -3
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 1 1 +0
Devon 2 0 -2
Essex 0 2 +2
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 2 0 -2

Import volume by transport

What this shows: Import value by transport mode used to bring goods into the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Air transport 5,625,465
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 770,823
Other 125,222
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 46,540

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 £
Air transport 3,637,159 1,988,306 -1,648,853
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 620,652 150,171 -470,481
Other 125,222 0 -125,222
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 12,646 33,894 +21,248

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 4,798,581
Dover 585,353
London Stansted Airport 272,539
East Midlands Airport 252,402
Glasgow Airport 233,073

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 £
London Heathrow Airport 3,195,554 1,603,027 -1,592,527
Dover 527,393 57,960 -469,433
London Stansted Airport 47,970 224,569 +176,599
East Midlands Airport 152,138 100,264 -51,874
Glasgow Airport 228,914 4,159 -224,755
000 125,222 0 -125,222
Eurotunnel 9,955 89,908 +79,953
Dover / Eurotunnel 67,396 9,297 -58,099
Birmingham Airport 6,746 49,676 +42,930
London 13,142 0 -13,142

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 9
Manufacture of other transport equipment 6
Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products 5
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 4
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 4

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-04 2
2026-03 1
2026-01 2
2025-12 2
2025-10 1

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+ 34
15m-54m 8
1m-15m 7
Other 4
0-1m 1

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 8,847,470
United Arab Emirates 1,478,666
India 1,333,591
Switzerland 544,443
Netherlands 325,912

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 530,689 8,316,781 +7,786,092
United Arab Emirates 1,477,602 1,064 -1,476,538
India 928,059 405,532 -522,527
Switzerland 537,772 6,671 -531,101
Netherlands 289,728 36,184 -253,544
Germany 229,266 88,025 -141,241
France 60,553 225,983 +165,430
South Korea 252,000 1,728 -250,272
Jordan 243,028 5,091 -237,937
Austria 153,832 20,173 -133,659

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 £
XI 1

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 £
XI 0 1 +1

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 14,166,015
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 880,945
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 97,789
Other 1

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 4,657,504 9,508,511 +4,851,007
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 534,979 345,966 -189,013
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 29,687 68,102 +38,415
Other 0 1 +1

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 10,517,187
London Stansted Airport 2,299,808
East Midlands Airport 872,149
Dover / Eurotunnel 604,036
ZLC 283,717

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 £
London Heathrow Airport 2,599,887 7,917,300 +5,317,413
London Stansted Airport 1,472,661 827,147 -645,514
East Midlands Airport 337,988 534,161 +196,173
Dover / Eurotunnel 473,303 130,733 -342,570
ZLC 58,566 225,151 +166,585
Manchester Airport 177,402 2,752 -174,650
Harwich 0 163,800 +163,800
Dover 45,597 20,047 -25,550
Southampton 0 59,129 +59,129
London Gateway Port 20,281 8,773 -11,508

Quick facts

HS code: 4906

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

Description: Original hand-drawn plans, blueprints, and designs for buildings, machinery, or maps. Includes handwritten notes and photocopies