Import/export HS code 8449: Machines for making felt or nonwoven materials

Machines used to create or finish felt and nonwoven fabrics, including equipment for making felt hats and hat blocks

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 £
Germany 2,214,696
Italy 915,025
France 537,071
United States 380,343
Austria 352,498

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 £
Germany 586,010 1,628,686 +1,042,676
Italy 87,482 827,543 +740,061
France 445,630 91,441 -354,189
United States 134,200 246,143 +111,943
Austria 273,392 79,106 -194,286
China 58,516 162,698 +104,182
Greece 0 205,236 +205,236
India 53,710 95,990 +42,280
Denmark 124,000 0 -124,000
Netherlands 80,641 24,770 -55,871

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 £
Germany 1,625,258
Italy 1,034,967
Portugal 744,021
Austria 422,985
United States 379,061

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 £
Germany 464,816 1,160,442 +695,626
Italy 205,638 829,329 +623,691
Portugal 290,713 453,308 +162,595
Austria 333,437 89,548 -243,889
United States 132,918 246,143 +113,225
France 232,561 19,236 -213,325
Greece 0 205,236 +205,236
China 65,225 119,424 +54,199
India 53,710 95,990 +42,280
Spain 45,026 8,707 -36,319

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
West Yorkshire 13
Greater Manchester 10
Highlands and Islands 5
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 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
West Yorkshire 11 10 -1
Greater Manchester 7 5 -2
Highlands and Islands 3 3 +0
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 2 2 +0
Inner London - West 3 2 -1
Surrey, East and West Sussex 1 4 +3
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 2 1 -1
Cheshire 1 2 +1
Lancashire 3 0 -3
Merseyside 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) 3,554,696
Air transport 1,386,368
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 246,550
Other 134,956

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) 1,031,598 2,523,098 +1,491,500
Air transport 769,648 616,720 -152,928
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 53,092 193,458 +140,366
Other 69,436 65,520 -3,916

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 2,713,565
East Midlands Airport 482,522
Immingham Docks 386,522
Eurotunnel 365,585
London Heathrow Airport 329,089

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 £
Dover 688,757 2,024,808 +1,336,051
East Midlands Airport 352,461 130,061 -222,400
Immingham Docks 129,672 256,850 +127,178
Eurotunnel 148,544 217,041 +68,497
London Heathrow Airport 114,229 214,860 +100,631
London Stansted Airport 169,862 123,856 -46,006
Manchester Airport 51,296 132,452 +81,156
Felixstowe 26,169 143,408 +117,239
000 69,436 65,520 -3,916
Dover / Eurotunnel 46,217 39,192 -7,025

Importer companies by SIC division

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

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Manufacture of textiles 30
Other manufacturing 13
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 12
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 7
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 6

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 13
2025-11 14
2025-10 15
2025-09 13
2025-08 11

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+ 33
1m-15m 27
15m-54m 9
0-1m 8
Other 7

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 £
Egypt 494,996
Italy 299,461
Austria 256,310
United States 160,551
Portugal 154,000

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 £
Egypt 0 494,996 +494,996
Italy 0 299,461 +299,461
Austria 213,106 43,204 -169,902
United States 103,520 57,031 -46,489
Portugal 0 154,000 +154,000
Germany 34,857 51,289 +16,432
Turkey 26,552 0 -26,552
Singapore 0 19,970 +19,970
Ireland 16,207 2,850 -13,357
Romania 14,107 0 -14,107

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) 703,092
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 603,089
Air transport 287,685

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) 169,556 533,536 +363,980
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 92,093 510,996 +418,903
Air transport 186,631 101,054 -85,577

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 653,671
Felixstowe 461,567
East Midlands Airport 101,504
Immingham Docks 85,100
London Gateway Port 75,981

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 154,899 498,772 +343,873
Felixstowe 26,552 435,015 +408,463
East Midlands Airport 79,937 21,567 -58,370
Immingham Docks 50,336 34,764 -15,572
London Gateway Port 0 75,981 +75,981
London Stansted Airport 47,440 26,748 -20,692
London Heathrow Airport 35,437 32,361 -3,076
ZLC 23,817 20,378 -3,439
Southampton 15,205 0 -15,205
Holyhead 8,059 0 -8,059

Quick facts

HS code: 8449

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

Description: Machines used to create or finish felt and nonwoven fabrics, including equipment for making felt hats and hat blocks