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 1,100,793
Turkey 419,076
United States 53,088
Japan 50,048
France 25,991

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 809,071 291,722 -517,349
Turkey 266,535 152,541 -113,994
United States 20,106 32,982 +12,876
Japan 30,453 19,595 -10,858
France 6,928 19,063 +12,135
Canada 13,133 7,780 -5,353
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 4,781 14,327 +9,546
Viet Nam 16,483 0 -16,483
Italy 3,318 12,450 +9,132
Spain 10,357 1,604 -8,753

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 1,134,181
Turkey 434,696
Japan 59,803
United States 34,109
France 20,171

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 829,166 305,015 -524,151
Turkey 280,479 154,217 -126,262
Japan 29,507 30,296 +789
United States 11,648 22,461 +10,813
France 1,133 19,038 +17,905
Germany 11,931 6,469 -5,462
Viet Nam 17,459 0 -17,459
Italy 2,989 8,222 +5,233
Spain 9,849 1,318 -8,531
Indonesia 0 8,845 +8,845

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
West Yorkshire 4
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 3
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 3
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 3
North Yorkshire 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
West Yorkshire 1 3 +2
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 3 1 -2
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 2 1 -1
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 3 1 -2
North Yorkshire 1 3 +2
Greater Manchester 1 2 +1
Inner London - East 2 1 -1
Lancashire 0 2 +2
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 1 1 +0
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) 1,288,104
Air transport 392,071
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 92,252
Other 11,565
Road transport 3,397

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) 970,270 317,834 -652,436
Air transport 173,017 219,054 +46,037
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 60,491 31,761 -28,730
Other 7,398 4,167 -3,231
Road transport 0 3,397 +3,397

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 1,065,968
London Heathrow Airport 198,570
Southampton 134,933
Birmingham Airport 76,510
London Gateway Port 58,251

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 844,324 221,644 -622,680
London Heathrow Airport 132,701 65,869 -66,832
Southampton 118,050 16,883 -101,167
Birmingham Airport 4,839 71,671 +66,832
London Gateway Port 4,322 53,929 +49,607
Manchester Airport 1,350 40,259 +38,909
East Midlands Airport 11,744 22,318 +10,574
Dover / Eurotunnel 23,071 10,990 -12,081
London Stansted Airport 18,155 15,027 -3,128
Dover 28,548 2,429 -26,119

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 18
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 13
Manufacture of textiles 6
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
2026-04 2
2026-03 4
2026-02 4
2026-01 9
2025-12 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
1m-15m 19
54m+ 9
0-1m 6
15m-54m 6
Other 2

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 160,144
Italy 20,831
France 18,431
United States 14,185
Malaysia 10,168

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 103,145 56,999 -46,146
Italy 19,632 1,199 -18,433
France 9,479 8,952 -527
United States 0 14,185 +14,185
Malaysia 1,287 8,881 +7,594
India 7,615 0 -7,615
Netherlands 2,197 4,753 +2,556
Hungary 2,679 1,439 -1,240
Romania 0 3,119 +3,119
Germany 3,107 0 -3,107

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 6,225
Canada 2,666

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 2,823 3,402 +579
Canada 1,262 1,404 +142

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) 180,528
Air transport 47,048
Other 13,810
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 13,505

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) 116,838 63,690 -53,148
Air transport 15,381 31,667 +16,286
Other 6,796 7,014 +218
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 10,126 3,379 -6,747

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Liverpool Docks 84,159
Holyhead 60,735
Dover / Eurotunnel 36,705
London Heathrow Airport 19,040
ZLC 16,694

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 68,722 15,437 -53,285
Holyhead 26,187 34,548 +8,361
Dover / Eurotunnel 23,000 13,705 -9,295
London Heathrow Airport 2,925 16,115 +13,190
ZLC 12,456 4,238 -8,218
000 6,796 7,014 +218
East Midlands Airport 0 9,875 +9,875
London Gateway Port 7,615 1,386 -6,229
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