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 14,248,760
Germany 11,049,811
Italy 4,842,148
Viet Nam 4,349,863
Japan 3,228,773

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 8,192,896 6,055,864 -2,137,032
Germany 5,893,147 5,156,664 -736,483
Italy 2,684,037 2,158,111 -525,926
Viet Nam 2,651,170 1,698,693 -952,477
Japan 1,475,665 1,753,108 +277,443
France 981,259 1,084,500 +103,241
United States 750,115 371,151 -378,964
Finland 526,734 460,510 -66,224
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 351,799 192,840 -158,959
Netherlands 201,448 325,322 +123,874

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 15,296,384
Germany 6,760,285
Italy 4,985,404
Viet Nam 4,382,969
Romania 3,941,861

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 8,909,729 6,386,655 -2,523,074
Germany 3,649,035 3,111,250 -537,785
Italy 2,603,169 2,382,235 -220,934
Viet Nam 2,676,846 1,706,123 -970,723
Romania 2,050,068 1,891,793 -158,275
Japan 1,546,675 2,016,459 +469,784
France 820,474 512,798 -307,676
United States 740,487 345,773 -394,714
Finland 537,984 430,226 -107,758
Denmark 345,543 38,448 -307,095

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
West Midlands 25
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 18
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 17
West Yorkshire 17
Inner London - West 15

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 20 16 -4
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 16 12 -4
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 16 7 -9
West Yorkshire 12 11 -1
Inner London - West 10 9 -1
Greater Manchester 11 7 -4
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 7 8 +1
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 7 8 +1
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 9 8 -1
Surrey, East and West Sussex 8 8 +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) 23,549,967
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 10,043,056
Air transport 7,790,718
Rail transport 3,714,856
Other 256,683

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) 13,135,306 10,414,661 -2,720,645
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 5,654,004 4,389,052 -1,264,952
Air transport 4,028,681 3,762,037 -266,644
Rail transport 2,185,130 1,529,726 -655,404
Other 143,237 113,446 -29,791
Road transport 11,605 9,404 -2,201

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 12,609,593
Southampton 5,703,322
Birmingham Airport 5,122,935
Dover 4,080,263
NGO 3,713,222

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 8,033,017 4,576,576 -3,456,441
Southampton 3,237,134 2,466,188 -770,946
Birmingham Airport 2,469,232 2,653,703 +184,471
Dover 2,526,624 1,553,639 -972,985
NGO 2,185,130 1,528,092 -657,038
London Gateway Port 961,733 2,022,761 +1,061,028
Immingham Docks 1,240,019 1,209,491 -30,528
Eurotunnel 1,019,117 1,112,086 +92,969
London 396,220 796,136 +399,916
London Heathrow Airport 599,437 340,961 -258,476

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 61
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 39
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 26
Repair and installation of machinery and equipment 20
Other manufacturing 15

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-04 64
2026-03 64
2026-02 51
2026-01 48
2025-12 37

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+ 137
1m-15m 92
15m-54m 31
Other 21
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 3,870,242
United States 2,966,530
Ireland 2,269,524
Germany 2,239,352
Spain 2,090,582

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 1,817,449 2,052,793 +235,344
United States 1,661,790 1,304,740 -357,050
Ireland 1,252,641 1,016,883 -235,758
Germany 822,038 1,417,314 +595,276
Spain 1,306,730 783,852 -522,878
France 1,057,700 722,625 -335,075
Netherlands 588,854 546,899 -41,955
South Korea 732,739 359,154 -373,585
Mexico 379,049 712,719 +333,670
Philippines 399,421 658,510 +259,089

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 8,746
Ireland 797
Germany 766
XI 706
Romania 562

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 6,096 2,650 -3,446
Ireland 116 681 +565
Germany 402 364 -38
XI 214 492 +278
Romania 225 337 +112
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) 16,822,230
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 11,658,912
Air transport 4,316,983
Other 16,324
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) 8,808,780 8,013,450 -795,330
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 6,000,795 5,658,117 -342,678
Air transport 2,642,534 1,674,449 -968,085
Other 8,341 7,983 -358
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 12,889,118
London Gateway Port 5,225,280
Southampton 3,016,505
London Heathrow Airport 1,734,689
Holyhead 1,637,693

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 6,720,628 6,168,490 -552,138
London Gateway Port 3,373,932 1,851,348 -1,522,584
Southampton 703,196 2,313,309 +1,610,113
London Heathrow Airport 933,814 800,875 -132,939
Holyhead 785,249 852,444 +67,195
Manchester Airport 1,031,371 396,813 -634,558
Liverpool Docks 1,133,625 289,832 -843,793
Felixstowe 725,593 562,068 -163,525
Dover 400,646 507,823 +107,177
East Midlands Airport 525,292 240,289 -285,003

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