Import/export HS code 731512: Various types of iron or steel chains

Chains made of iron or steel, excluding roller chains, used in various industrial and mechanical applications

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 13,455,662
Germany 10,378,778
Italy 4,573,171
Viet Nam 3,965,753
Japan 2,727,876

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 8,377,642 5,078,020 -3,299,622
Germany 5,994,727 4,384,051 -1,610,676
Italy 2,767,630 1,805,541 -962,089
Viet Nam 2,965,337 1,000,416 -1,964,921
Japan 1,178,019 1,549,857 +371,838
France 916,306 881,564 -34,742
United States 479,929 576,434 +96,505
Finland 485,550 372,317 -113,233
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 478,921 85,193 -393,728
Netherlands 183,489 264,358 +80,869

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 14,535,661
Germany 6,404,453
Italy 4,592,630
Viet Nam 4,000,904
Romania 3,469,851

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 9,193,557 5,342,104 -3,851,453
Germany 3,867,415 2,537,038 -1,330,377
Italy 2,663,594 1,929,036 -734,558
Viet Nam 2,991,013 1,009,891 -1,981,122
Romania 1,809,798 1,660,053 -149,745
Japan 1,227,542 1,745,842 +518,300
France 742,772 514,132 -228,640
United States 484,139 538,905 +54,766
Finland 503,715 374,051 -129,664
Denmark 351,358 27,219 -324,139

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
West Midlands 26
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 17
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 17
West Yorkshire 15
Greater Manchester 12

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 Midlands 21 13 -8
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 15 11 -4
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 14 7 -7
West Yorkshire 11 8 -3
Greater Manchester 12 5 -7
Inner London - West 10 5 -5
Surrey, East and West Sussex 10 8 -2
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 8 6 -2
Cheshire 7 4 -3
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 8 5 -3

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) 21,595,099
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 9,449,649
Air transport 7,081,908
Rail transport 3,548,329
Other 273,478

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) 13,425,332 8,169,767 -5,255,565
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 5,531,324 3,918,325 -1,612,999
Air transport 3,885,989 3,195,919 -690,070
Rail transport 2,255,171 1,293,158 -962,013
Other 127,549 145,929 +18,380
Road transport 10,282 9,848 -434

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 12,455,375
Southampton 4,854,218
Birmingham Airport 4,639,550
Dover 3,804,346
NGO 3,546,695

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 9,208,569 3,246,806 -5,961,763
Southampton 2,866,010 1,988,208 -877,802
Birmingham Airport 2,493,890 2,145,660 -348,230
Dover 2,386,562 1,417,784 -968,778
NGO 2,255,171 1,291,524 -963,647
London Gateway Port 511,060 1,961,174 +1,450,114
Immingham Docks 1,219,950 999,263 -220,687
Eurotunnel 1,015,858 937,364 -78,494
London 396,023 607,864 +211,841
London Heathrow Airport 595,513 300,350 -295,163

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 60
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 39
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 27
Repair and installation of machinery and equipment 19
Other manufacturing 15

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 48
2025-11 57
2025-10 58
2025-09 55
2025-08 50

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+ 131
1m-15m 92
15m-54m 31
Other 23
0-1m 10

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 £
Italy 3,891,717
United States 2,806,689
Germany 2,259,651
Spain 2,084,594
Ireland 2,026,963

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 £
Italy 1,884,751 2,006,966 +122,215
United States 1,914,068 892,621 -1,021,447
Germany 880,332 1,379,319 +498,987
Spain 553,004 1,531,590 +978,586
Ireland 1,252,706 774,257 -478,449
France 1,146,509 564,972 -581,537
Philippines 368,199 799,615 +431,416
Netherlands 593,631 530,087 -63,544
South Korea 587,528 529,815 -57,713
Poland 699,935 186,704 -513,231

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 £
China 9,603
XI 4,032
Ireland 764
Germany 538
Romania 341

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 £
China 7,076 2,527 -4,549
XI 3,540 492 -3,048
Ireland 116 648 +532
Germany 248 290 +42
Romania 225 116 -109
Italy 0 287 +287

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) 16,422,644
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 11,004,372
Air transport 4,013,309
Other 18,813
Road transport 9,171

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) 8,516,377 7,906,267 -610,110
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 5,613,123 5,391,249 -221,874
Air transport 2,545,142 1,468,167 -1,076,975
Other 12,744 6,069 -6,675
Road transport 9,171 0 -9,171

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 12,528,107
London Gateway Port 5,359,849
Southampton 2,563,644
Holyhead 1,474,485
London Heathrow Airport 1,456,265

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 6,375,678 6,152,429 -223,249
London Gateway Port 3,140,373 2,219,476 -920,897
Southampton 755,275 1,808,369 +1,053,094
Holyhead 786,812 687,673 -99,139
London Heathrow Airport 876,227 580,038 -296,189
Manchester Airport 938,618 495,012 -443,606
Liverpool Docks 1,107,143 236,344 -870,799
Dover 414,892 662,636 +247,744
Felixstowe 565,886 486,840 -79,046
East Midlands Airport 571,772 209,087 -362,685

Quick facts

HS code: 731512

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

Description: Chains made of iron or steel, excluding roller chains, used in various industrial and mechanical applications