Import/export HS code 5406: Man-made yarn for retail sale

Synthetic or artificial yarn sold in small packages, not for sewing. Ideal for knitting or weaving projects

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 1,030,616
Turkey 426,429
Japan 48,929
United States 48,738
Canada 20,913

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 773,121 257,495 -515,626
Turkey 261,916 164,513 -97,403
Japan 30,453 18,476 -11,977
United States 26,344 22,394 -3,950
Canada 13,133 7,780 -5,353
France 7,883 12,166 +4,283
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 4,781 14,327 +9,546
Viet Nam 16,483 0 -16,483
Italy 1,650 14,113 +12,463
Spain 7,960 3,928 -4,032

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 1,060,017
Turkey 445,011
Japan 58,684
United States 22,735
Germany 18,400

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 793,216 266,801 -526,415
Turkey 277,789 167,222 -110,567
Japan 29,507 29,177 -330
United States 10,862 11,873 +1,011
Germany 11,931 6,469 -5,462
Viet Nam 17,459 0 -17,459
France 2,088 12,156 +10,068
Italy 1,349 9,862 +8,513
Spain 7,576 3,591 -3,985
United Kingdom 4,062 5,908 +1,846

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 4
West Yorkshire 4
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 3
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 3
Greater Manchester 2

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
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 4 1 -3
West Yorkshire 2 3 +1
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 2 1 -1
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 2 2 +0
Greater Manchester 1 2 +1
Inner London - East 1 1 +0
Lancashire 0 2 +2
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 1 1 +0
North Yorkshire 1 2 +1
Outer London - West and North West 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 £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,289,309
Air transport 326,022
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 80,171
Other 12,849

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) 941,552 347,757 -593,795
Air transport 165,289 160,733 -4,556
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 56,093 24,078 -32,015
Other 8,515 4,334 -4,181

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 1,085,214
London Heathrow Airport 171,056
Southampton 139,442
London Gateway Port 43,055
Birmingham Airport 40,916

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 814,519 270,695 -543,824
London Heathrow Airport 121,934 49,122 -72,812
Southampton 123,625 15,817 -107,808
London Gateway Port 4,322 38,733 +34,411
Birmingham Airport 3,199 37,717 +34,518
Manchester Airport 6,264 33,894 +27,630
London Stansted Airport 21,117 13,744 -7,373
East Midlands Airport 9,471 22,720 +13,249
Dover 29,503 2,429 -27,074
Dover / Eurotunnel 18,751 9,156 -9,595

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 19
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 13
Manufacture of textiles 5
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 2
Other manufacturing 2

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 9
2025-11 2
2025-10 7
2025-09 5
2025-08 7

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 19
54m+ 10
15m-54m 6
0-1m 5
Other 3

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 £
Ireland 152,850
Italy 20,831
France 12,622
Malaysia 10,168
India 7,615

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 £
Ireland 104,008 48,842 -55,166
Italy 10,987 9,844 -1,143
France 8,453 4,169 -4,284
Malaysia 1,287 8,881 +7,594
India 7,615 0 -7,615
United States 0 6,947 +6,947
Romania 0 3,119 +3,119
Germany 3,107 0 -3,107
Hungary 2,679 0 -2,679
Switzerland 0 2,558 +2,558

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 £
Viet Nam 4,514
Canada 2,513

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 £
Viet Nam 3,134 1,380 -1,754
Canada 1,355 1,158 -197

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) 164,367
Air transport 37,279
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 13,505
Other 12,115

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) 108,063 56,304 -51,759
Air transport 16,568 20,711 +4,143
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 10,126 3,379 -6,747
Other 6,763 5,352 -1,411

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Liverpool Docks 84,253
Holyhead 55,042
Dover / Eurotunnel 26,143
ZLC 16,694
London Heathrow Airport 14,545

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 £
Liverpool Docks 68,870 15,383 -53,487
Holyhead 26,935 28,107 +1,172
Dover / Eurotunnel 13,329 12,814 -515
ZLC 12,456 4,238 -8,218
London Heathrow Airport 2,925 11,620 +8,695
000 6,763 5,352 -1,411
London Gateway Port 7,615 1,386 -6,229
East Midlands Airport 1,187 3,414 +2,227
Southampton 0 1,993 +1,993
Heysham 1,440 0 -1,440

Quick facts

HS code: 5406

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

Description: Synthetic or artificial yarn sold in small packages, not for sewing. Ideal for knitting or weaving projects