Import/export HS code 5404: Synthetic monofilament, strips, and similar materials

Thin synthetic threads and strips, like artificial straw, made from synthetic textiles. Width is 5mm or less. Used in crafts, packaging, and more

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 £
Germany 7,283,218
Netherlands 4,598,956
China 3,346,958
United States 2,467,198
Viet Nam 2,371,762

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 £
Germany 3,655,580 3,627,638 -27,942
Netherlands 3,130,436 1,468,520 -1,661,916
China 1,759,983 1,586,975 -173,008
United States 1,214,758 1,252,440 +37,682
Viet Nam 1,678,998 692,764 -986,234
Italy 1,216,804 1,006,119 -210,685
Hungary 979,951 253,579 -726,372
France 728,424 439,656 -288,768
Taiwan 719,395 367,460 -351,935
United Arab Emirates 933,206 0 -933,206

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 £
Germany 7,548,245
China 3,598,196
Viet Nam 2,875,134
United States 2,824,117
Netherlands 2,601,445

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 £
Germany 3,822,807 3,725,438 -97,369
China 1,949,558 1,648,638 -300,920
Viet Nam 1,847,426 1,027,708 -819,718
United States 1,371,221 1,452,896 +81,675
Netherlands 2,079,346 522,099 -1,557,247
Italy 1,292,144 983,702 -308,442
Hungary 1,008,736 290,392 -718,344
Taiwan 747,276 386,775 -360,501
United Arab Emirates 1,060,408 1,143 -1,059,265
Saudi Arabia 635,203 294,521 -340,682

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
West Yorkshire 16
Greater Manchester 11
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 10
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 10
Essex 10

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
West Yorkshire 12 13 +1
Greater Manchester 9 6 -3
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 6 10 +4
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 8 9 +1
Essex 7 9 +2
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 6 6 +0
Surrey, East and West Sussex 7 6 -1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 5 6 +1
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 6 2 -4
Inner London - West 3 5 +2

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) 14,010,221
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 13,893,943
Air transport 2,104,470
Other 532,296
Road transport 50,788

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) 8,590,532 5,419,689 -3,170,843
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 8,453,628 5,440,315 -3,013,313
Air transport 1,043,601 1,060,869 +17,268
Other 173,330 358,966 +185,636
Road transport 34,422 16,366 -18,056

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 6,504,281
Dover 5,658,842
Immingham Docks 5,055,164
Southampton 3,715,331
Eurotunnel 1,596,515

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 3,950,554 2,553,727 -1,396,827
Dover 3,242,779 2,416,063 -826,716
Immingham Docks 2,993,814 2,061,350 -932,464
Southampton 2,341,509 1,373,822 -967,687
Eurotunnel 922,126 674,389 -247,737
Harwich 1,187,744 81,604 -1,106,140
Thamesport 539,694 505,822 -33,872
London Heathrow Airport 375,721 323,070 -52,651
London 421,156 250,294 -170,862
000 173,330 358,966 +185,636

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
39
Other manufacturing
38
Manufacture of textiles
25
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
16
Manufacture of rubber and plastic products
10

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-05 35
2026-04 34
2026-03 42
2026-02 42
2026-01 35

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 81
54m+ 32
15m-54m 24
0-1m 17
Other 10

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 £
Germany 6,881,687
United States 3,479,120
Canada 2,779,948
Netherlands 1,999,732
China 1,760,113

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 £
Germany 3,831,867 3,049,820 -782,047
United States 2,083,615 1,395,505 -688,110
Canada 1,320,009 1,459,939 +139,930
Netherlands 966,008 1,033,724 +67,716
China 828,868 931,245 +102,377
Portugal 1,401,069 84,371 -1,316,698
Japan 484,847 395,270 -89,577
Italy 385,937 478,865 +92,928
Czechia 337,917 293,834 -44,083
France 300,274 228,031 -72,243

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 £
Hungary 82,017
Portugal 79,840
Germany 24,973
Viet Nam 15,138
United States 14,925

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 £
Hungary 0 82,017 +82,017
Portugal 41,072 38,768 -2,304
Germany 13,415 11,558 -1,857
Viet Nam 9,297 5,841 -3,456
United States 0 14,925 +14,925
China 4,896 3,447 -1,449
Japan 3,817 1,345 -2,472
Italy 2,837 854 -1,983
France 58 23 -35
Taiwan 0 50 +50

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) 13,050,911
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 6,228,955
Air transport 4,518,776
Other 234,226
Road transport 2,084

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) 7,473,808 5,577,103 -1,896,705
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 3,132,772 3,096,183 -36,589
Air transport 2,516,656 2,002,120 -514,536
Other 75,398 158,828 +83,430
Road transport 2,084 0 -2,084

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 9,106,408
Liverpool Docks 2,731,292
Southampton 1,822,494
London Heathrow Airport 1,819,898
Felixstowe 1,754,697

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 4,894,482 4,211,926 -682,556
Liverpool Docks 1,284,647 1,446,645 +161,998
Southampton 763,534 1,058,960 +295,426
London Heathrow Airport 998,767 821,131 -177,636
Felixstowe 691,810 1,062,887 +371,077
Immingham Docks 1,229,605 264,338 -965,267
East Midlands Airport 751,201 516,086 -235,115
London Gateway Port 1,024,015 215,795 -808,220
ZLC 615,143 450,410 -164,733
London 414,418 158,847 -255,571

Related HS codes

What this shows: Sibling or child HS codes in the same classification branch.

Quick facts

HS code: 5404

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

Description: Thin synthetic threads and strips, like artificial straw, made from synthetic textiles. Width is 5mm or less. Used in crafts, packaging, and more