Import/export HS code 7206: Iron and steel in basic forms

Raw iron and non-alloy steel in shapes like ingots, used for making other steel 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 £
China 4,521,369
Ireland 1,437,416
United States 848,331
Netherlands 362,300
Poland 302,657

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 1,639,327 2,882,042 +1,242,715
Ireland 984,900 452,516 -532,384
United States 500,077 348,254 -151,823
Netherlands 165,929 196,371 +30,442
Poland 3,171 299,486 +296,315
Germany 144,682 73,153 -71,529
France 152,903 60,090 -92,813
Portugal 87,626 78,545 -9,081
India 21,758 100,976 +79,218
Sweden 105,910 0 -105,910

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 4,684,585
United States 749,320
Poland 302,657
Netherlands 262,428
India 185,629

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 1,748,771 2,935,814 +1,187,043
United States 400,358 348,962 -51,396
Poland 3,171 299,486 +296,315
Netherlands 106,907 155,521 +48,614
India 67,588 118,041 +50,453
France 125,332 40,110 -85,222
Portugal 87,626 77,420 -10,206
United Kingdom 90,488 73,922 -16,566
Germany 88,356 68,781 -19,575
Sweden 105,910 0 -105,910

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 7
Cheshire 5
West Midlands 5
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 4
Inner London - West 4

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 3 5 +2
Cheshire 5 4 -1
West Midlands 2 5 +3
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 3 3 +0
Inner London - West 3 2 -1
Shropshire and Staffordshire 3 3 +0
Greater Manchester 3 1 -2
Lancashire 2 3 +1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 2 1 -1
Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 2 1 -1

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) 3,583,633
Air transport 2,138,661
Other 1,403,645
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,301,892
Road transport 11,061

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) 1,682,979 1,900,654 +217,675
Air transport 556,838 1,581,823 +1,024,985
Other 951,532 452,113 -499,419
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 636,418 665,474 +29,056
Road transport 0 11,061 +11,061

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 2,697,398
000 1,403,645
East Midlands Airport 906,134
Southampton 805,343
Dover 675,823

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 1,130,931 1,566,467 +435,536
000 951,532 452,113 -499,419
East Midlands Airport 128,489 777,645 +649,156
Southampton 450,256 355,087 -95,169
Dover 262,142 413,681 +151,539
Manchester Airport 110,630 438,571 +327,941
London Heathrow Airport 203,484 152,129 -51,355
London Stansted Airport 92,032 144,276 +52,244
Immingham Docks 111,405 8,313 -103,092
Eurotunnel 77,895 29,403 -48,492

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 12
Manufacture of basic metals 9
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 9
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 6
Manufacture of electrical equipment 4

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 3
2025-11 2
2025-10 9
2025-09 9
2025-08 4

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+ 22
1m-15m 17
15m-54m 9
0-1m 8
Other 8

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 6,284,836
Spain 4,307,660
Italy 2,545,941
United States 1,784,655
Finland 1,116,251

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 1,938,429 4,346,407 +2,407,978
Spain 2,521,440 1,786,220 -735,220
Italy 116,240 2,429,701 +2,313,461
United States 1,059,703 724,952 -334,751
Finland 579,874 536,377 -43,497
United Arab Emirates 6,684 556,534 +549,850
France 332,850 166,169 -166,681
Ireland 172,467 130,173 -42,294
Norway 0 263,431 +263,431
India 16,409 164,490 +148,081

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 £
XI 3,765,129

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 £
XI 2,252,068 1,513,061 -739,007

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) 11,367,349
Other 3,774,926
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 2,294,223
Air transport 1,058,331

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) 3,439,301 7,928,048 +4,488,747
Other 2,256,749 1,518,177 -738,572
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,093,911 1,200,312 +106,401
Air transport 167,886 890,445 +722,559

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 9,947,734
000 3,774,926
Southampton 1,259,398
Dover 943,213
Manchester Airport 603,261

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 2,904,750 7,042,984 +4,138,234
000 2,256,749 1,518,177 -738,572
Southampton 834,696 424,702 -409,994
Dover 228,752 714,461 +485,709
Manchester Airport 68,053 535,208 +467,155
Grangemouth Docks 0 556,534 +556,534
East Midlands Airport 29,087 223,756 +194,669
Aberdeen Docks 0 176,000 +176,000
Liverpool Docks 142,126 10,177 -131,949
Holyhead 41,629 105,307 +63,678

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 7206

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

Description: Raw iron and non-alloy steel in shapes like ingots, used for making other steel products