Import/export HS code 5901: Stiffened fabrics for books, painting, or hats

Textile fabrics stiffened with gum or starch, used for book covers, painting canvases, and hat bases

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 11,774,883
Netherlands 3,814,271
United States 1,703,639
Italy 891,211
India 662,108

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 6,756,746 5,018,137 -1,738,609
Netherlands 1,889,354 1,924,917 +35,563
United States 638,365 1,065,274 +426,909
Italy 371,162 520,049 +148,887
India 296,888 365,220 +68,332
Belgium 207,562 219,688 +12,126
Czechia 162,156 207,524 +45,368
Dominican Republic 180,356 163,340 -17,016
Germany 195,532 125,162 -70,370
France 182,125 41,855 -140,270

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 12,294,573
Netherlands 3,222,046
United States 1,716,630
Italy 891,455
India 635,128

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 7,120,666 5,173,907 -1,946,759
Netherlands 1,591,922 1,630,124 +38,202
United States 637,503 1,079,127 +441,624
Italy 368,018 523,437 +155,419
India 292,966 342,162 +49,196
Belgium 207,562 230,037 +22,475
Czechia 203,038 227,436 +24,398
Dominican Republic 180,356 165,171 -15,185
Viet Nam 112,224 158,667 +46,443
Poland 75,139 101,829 +26,690

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Greater Manchester 45
Inner London - West 26
Inner London - East 12
West Central Scotland 11
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 9

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
Greater Manchester 27 25 -2
Inner London - West 15 19 +4
Inner London - East 8 8 +0
West Central Scotland 9 5 -4
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 9 4 -5
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 7 5 -2
West Midlands 5 6 +1
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 5 5 +0
Outer London - West and North West 3 4 +1
Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 5 3 -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) 13,679,611
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 4,268,341
Air transport 2,199,393
Other 910,235
Road transport 69,864

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) 7,437,522 6,242,089 -1,195,433
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,129,988 2,138,353 +8,365
Air transport 978,221 1,221,172 +242,951
Other 689,444 220,791 -468,653
Road transport 44,607 25,257 -19,350

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 6,054,346
London Gateway Port 3,384,177
Southampton 3,303,959
Immingham Docks 1,219,264
Liverpool Docks 1,026,726

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 3,876,139 2,178,207 -1,697,932
London Gateway Port 1,009,884 2,374,293 +1,364,409
Southampton 2,166,918 1,137,041 -1,029,877
Immingham Docks 569,914 649,350 +79,436
Liverpool Docks 555,570 471,156 -84,414
000 689,444 220,791 -468,653
Manchester Airport 278,994 598,474 +319,480
London 422,224 408,151 -14,073
Dover 541,699 286,375 -255,324
499 20,028 472,033 +452,005

Importer companies by SIC division

What this shows: Industry breakdown (SIC divisions) of importing companies.

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 99
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 55
Other manufacturing 12
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 8
Printing and reproduction of recorded media 8

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-04 24
2026-03 30
2026-02 29
2026-01 24
2025-12 28

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 87
0-1m 47
54m+ 43
15m-54m 21
Other 13

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 1,040,947
Saudi Arabia 969,353
United States 834,905
France 425,699
Australia 423,332

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 562,228 478,719 -83,509
Saudi Arabia 316,476 652,877 +336,401
United States 446,549 388,356 -58,193
France 242,446 183,253 -59,193
Australia 214,033 209,299 -4,734
Ireland 200,171 218,606 +18,435
Malaysia 118,660 175,109 +56,449
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 173,891 70,391 -103,500
Peru 227,194 931 -226,263
Italy 89,405 106,343 +16,938

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 £
Ireland 7,041
China 6,350
India 2,724
XI 2,100
Spain 1,712

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 £
Ireland 7,041 0 -7,041
China 2,368 3,982 +1,614
India 1,112 1,612 +500
XI 366 1,734 +1,368
Spain 535 1,177 +642
Taiwan 0 4 +4

Export volume by transport

What this shows: Export value by transport mode used to ship goods from the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 3,491,335
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,657,645
Air transport 1,555,395
Other 28,883

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 £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,572,117 1,919,218 +347,101
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 846,557 811,088 -35,469
Air transport 1,042,356 513,039 -529,317
Other 20,324 8,559 -11,765

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 1,051,092
London Gateway Port 1,045,357
Immingham Docks 1,025,708
Liverpool Docks 595,561
London Heathrow Airport 591,493

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 509,314 541,778 +32,464
London Gateway Port 223,347 822,010 +598,663
Immingham Docks 576,826 448,882 -127,944
Liverpool Docks 235,784 359,777 +123,993
London Heathrow Airport 494,768 96,725 -398,043
Southampton 202,299 338,435 +136,136
East Midlands Airport 235,404 124,600 -110,804
Felixstowe 313,928 25,846 -288,082
Manchester Airport 128,762 134,827 +6,065
Holyhead 115,021 124,786 +9,765

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 5901

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

Description: Textile fabrics stiffened with gum or starch, used for book covers, painting canvases, and hat bases