Import/export HS code 56012110: Absorbent cotton wadding

Highly absorbent cotton wadding, often used in medical or hygiene products

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 £
Italy 21,603,428
India 12,598,785
Belgium 11,874,695
Bulgaria 10,472,424
China 6,932,885

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 £
Italy 10,804,833 10,798,595 -6,238
India 6,883,260 5,715,525 -1,167,735
Belgium 6,685,907 5,188,788 -1,497,119
Bulgaria 5,386,939 5,085,485 -301,454
China 3,513,889 3,418,996 -94,893
Turkey 2,681,239 2,570,277 -110,962
Netherlands 2,659,861 2,133,102 -526,759
Germany 3,066,510 1,456,778 -1,609,732
Greece 1,619,436 1,407,130 -212,306
France 1,271,520 795,132 -476,388

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 £
Italy 21,836,784
India 12,729,000
Bulgaria 10,911,043
Turkey 7,513,461
China 7,494,134

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 £
Italy 10,901,002 10,935,782 +34,780
India 7,004,804 5,724,196 -1,280,608
Bulgaria 5,699,871 5,211,172 -488,699
Turkey 3,892,124 3,621,337 -270,787
China 3,888,345 3,605,789 -282,556
Germany 4,109,697 3,038,668 -1,071,029
France 3,147,664 2,638,129 -509,535
Netherlands 2,234,426 2,281,031 +46,605
Greece 1,323,373 1,238,175 -85,198
Spain 2,137,820 0 -2,137,820

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 18
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 8
West Midlands 6
West Yorkshire 6
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 5

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 13 10 -3
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 7 5 -2
West Midlands 5 6 +1
West Yorkshire 5 4 -1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 5 3 -2
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 4 3 -1
Outer London - West and North West 4 1 -3
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 4 3 -1
Greater Manchester 3 3 +0
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 2 3 +1

Import volume by transport

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

Top 5 values

Transport £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 45,321,884
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 34,140,437
Other 6,215,308
Air transport 810,192
Road transport 336,861

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 £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 25,203,642 20,118,242 -5,085,400
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 17,355,252 16,785,185 -570,067
Other 4,087,957 2,127,351 -1,960,606
Air transport 429,379 380,813 -48,566
Road transport 20,671 316,190 +295,519

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London 23,638,642
Felixstowe 16,850,179
Dover 12,481,815
000 6,215,308
London Gateway Port 5,301,734

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 11,342,771 12,295,871 +953,100
Felixstowe 10,961,663 5,888,516 -5,073,147
Dover 6,615,047 5,866,768 -748,279
000 4,087,957 2,127,351 -1,960,606
London Gateway Port 483,173 4,818,561 +4,335,388
Immingham Docks 3,263,761 1,194,576 -2,069,185
Liverpool Docks 2,256,573 2,191,628 -64,945
Southampton 2,441,662 1,353,094 -1,088,568
Middlesbrough 1,093,986 608,154 -485,832
499 0 1,669,574 +1,669,574

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 44
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 29
Other manufacturing 6
Other personal service activities 4
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 3

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 27
2025-11 28
2025-10 29
2025-09 18
2025-08 20

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+ 41
1m-15m 30
Other 13
15m-54m 12
0-1m 9

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 3,367,843
Denmark 2,089,353
United States 1,242,275
Taiwan 388,497
Poland 231,602

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 1,781,285 1,586,558 -194,727
Denmark 1,031,235 1,058,118 +26,883
United States 604,965 637,310 +32,345
Taiwan 224,280 164,217 -60,063
Poland 125,278 106,324 -18,954
France 56,228 90,452 +34,224
Singapore 75,025 68,109 -6,916
United Arab Emirates 59,454 65,474 +6,020
Belgium 75,186 30,297 -44,889
Hungary 52,161 33,185 -18,976

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 £
France 431,638
Italy 34,888
Ireland 10,497
India 2,585
Portugal 1,764

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 £
France 252,627 179,011 -73,616
Italy 21,009 13,879 -7,130
Ireland 0 10,497 +10,497
India 2,585 0 -2,585
Portugal 1,108 656 -452
China 427 619 +192
XI 5 992 +987
Turkey 518 0 -518

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) 5,597,981
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,934,224
Air transport 893,354
Other 485,195
Road transport 10,443

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) 2,778,164 2,819,817 +41,653
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,075,411 858,813 -216,598
Air transport 483,705 409,649 -74,056
Other 279,206 205,989 -73,217
Road transport 10,443 0 -10,443

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Holyhead 2,557,644
Immingham Docks 2,091,961
Southampton 928,517
London Heathrow Airport 687,474
London Gateway Port 562,488

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 £
Holyhead 1,225,630 1,332,014 +106,384
Immingham Docks 1,054,257 1,037,704 -16,553
Southampton 415,879 512,638 +96,759
London Heathrow Airport 365,744 321,730 -44,014
London Gateway Port 298,237 264,251 -33,986
Dover / Eurotunnel 272,982 285,472 +12,490
000 279,206 205,989 -73,217
Liverpool Docks 237,366 48,417 -188,949
Felixstowe 73,404 45,128 -28,276
Harwich 79,115 24,889 -54,226

Quick facts

HS code: 56012110

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

Description: Highly absorbent cotton wadding, often used in medical or hygiene products