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 3,013,587
France 1,918,895
Germany 1,081,423
Japan 201,992
Sweden 142,584

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 1,327,390 1,686,197 +358,807
France 1,799,913 118,982 -1,680,931
Germany 998,439 82,984 -915,455
Japan 12,629 189,363 +176,734
Sweden 72,912 69,672 -3,240
Italy 35,092 83,880 +48,788
Ireland 66,425 19,193 -47,232
Austria 19,852 32,833 +12,981
Australia 49,652 0 -49,652
Spain 43,649 2,885 -40,764

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 2,554,505
France 2,137,046
Germany 1,124,265
Japan 198,836
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 1,193,979 1,360,526 +166,547
France 1,792,645 344,401 -1,448,244
Germany 1,030,855 93,410 -937,445
Japan 9,473 189,363 +179,890
United Kingdom 143,996 10,563 -133,433
Italy 66,179 55,568 -10,611
Algeria 0 82,087 +82,087
India 16,958 54,437 +37,479
Spain 45,963 17,406 -28,557
Austria 21,391 32,833 +11,442

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 12
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 7 6 -1
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 3 2 -1
Inner London - East 3 1 -2
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 2 1 -1
Greater Manchester 2 1 -1
Lancashire 3 0 -3
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 1 1 +0
Essex 0 2 +2
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 2 0 -2
Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear 1 1 +0

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 5,896,934
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 738,959
Other 125,222
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 44,082

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 3,744,783 2,152,151 -1,592,632
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 588,985 149,974 -439,011
Other 125,222 0 -125,222
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 12,710 31,372 +18,662

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 583,160
London Stansted Airport 552,648
East Midlands Airport 248,279
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 3,202,895 1,595,686 -1,607,209
Dover 528,241 54,919 -473,322
London Stansted Airport 129,889 422,759 +292,870
East Midlands Airport 157,394 90,885 -66,509
Glasgow Airport 230,106 2,967 -227,139
000 125,222 0 -125,222
Eurotunnel 3,517 89,908 +86,391
Birmingham Airport 12,051 39,854 +27,803
Dover / Eurotunnel 44,085 6,744 -37,341
London 13,142 3,389 -9,753

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
Other manufacturing
5
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products
4

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-05 3
2026-04 2
2026-03 1
2026-01 2
2025-12 2

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+ 35
15m-54m 8
1m-15m 6
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 8,935,418
United Arab Emirates 1,478,666
India 1,330,702
Switzerland 541,683
Netherlands 323,484

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 670,709 8,264,709 +7,594,000
United Arab Emirates 1,477,602 1,064 -1,476,538
India 928,170 402,532 -525,638
Switzerland 537,017 4,666 -532,351
Netherlands 308,092 15,392 -292,700
Germany 215,841 71,351 -144,490
France 98,705 183,953 +85,248
South Korea 252,000 1,728 -250,272
Jordan 241,828 5,091 -236,737
Austria 155,376 14,952 -140,424

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 14,239,923
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 850,048
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 4,872,691 9,367,232 +4,494,541
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 573,982 276,066 -297,916
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 32,360 65,429 +33,069
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 10,485,006
London Stansted Airport 2,448,391
East Midlands Airport 827,984
Dover / Eurotunnel 578,036
ZLC 282,588

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 2,710,683 7,774,323 +5,063,640
London Stansted Airport 1,495,185 953,206 -541,979
East Midlands Airport 399,896 428,088 +28,192
Dover / Eurotunnel 497,365 80,671 -416,694
ZLC 75,773 206,815 +131,042
Manchester Airport 180,154 2,800 -177,354
Harwich 0 163,800 +163,800
Dover 41,718 20,047 -21,671
Southampton 2,673 56,456 +53,783
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