Import/export HS code 8461: Machines for cutting and shaping metal

Machines that cut, shape, or finish metal parts, including planing, shaping, and gear-cutting tools

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 18,114,013
China 11,761,648
Italy 7,050,326
Netherlands 5,149,665
Taiwan 4,291,586

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 9,681,059 8,432,954 -1,248,105
China 6,224,147 5,537,501 -686,646
Italy 3,715,628 3,334,698 -380,930
Netherlands 2,857,337 2,292,328 -565,009
Taiwan 2,192,118 2,099,468 -92,650
Switzerland 3,237,435 888,268 -2,349,167
South Korea 3,442,155 82,787 -3,359,368
France 1,444,142 1,554,222 +110,080
Turkey 1,457,349 1,174,151 -283,198
Norway 1,024,460 844,610 -179,850

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 16,999,320
China 12,723,893
Italy 7,202,863
Taiwan 4,669,171
Switzerland 4,208,992

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 9,183,167 7,816,153 -1,367,014
China 6,761,438 5,962,455 -798,983
Italy 3,849,534 3,353,329 -496,205
Taiwan 2,516,827 2,152,344 -364,483
Switzerland 3,236,370 972,622 -2,263,748
South Korea 3,443,948 66,032 -3,377,916
United States 2,443,005 1,048,209 -1,394,796
Netherlands 2,012,802 1,474,538 -538,264
Turkey 1,414,565 1,213,059 -201,506
France 766,510 1,336,404 +569,894

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
West Midlands 37
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 26
Greater Manchester 23
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 23
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 19

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 25 22 -3
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 18 16 -2
Greater Manchester 14 12 -2
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 15 15 +0
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 19 9 -10
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 12 12 +0
West Yorkshire 16 10 -6
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 16 10 -6
North Eastern Scotland 11 8 -3
Shropshire and Staffordshire 12 6 -6

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) 39,942,640
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 26,580,145
Air transport 6,426,078
Road transport 995,613
Other 172,975

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) 22,474,415 17,468,225 -5,006,190
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 16,414,186 10,165,959 -6,248,227
Air transport 3,826,267 2,599,811 -1,226,456
Road transport 745,898 249,715 -496,183
Other 72,562 100,413 +27,851

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 18,221,521
Felixstowe 12,160,817
Eurotunnel 5,864,060
Southampton 5,397,849
ZLC 5,304,034

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 9,656,023 8,565,498 -1,090,525
Felixstowe 6,513,090 5,647,727 -865,363
Eurotunnel 3,462,943 2,401,117 -1,061,826
Southampton 3,213,216 2,184,633 -1,028,583
ZLC 3,714,175 1,589,859 -2,124,316
Immingham Docks 2,028,022 2,017,678 -10,344
Tyne 3,697,571 17,739 -3,679,832
London Gateway Port 675,183 1,724,402 +1,049,219
Aberdeen Docks 1,678,123 506,327 -1,171,796
East Midlands Airport 1,100,670 652,190 -448,480

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 132
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 52
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 41
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 28
Other manufacturing 25

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 48
2025-11 59
2025-10 65
2025-09 44
2025-08 55

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 194
54m+ 116
0-1m 48
15m-54m 35
Other 30

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 £
United States 3,116,064
France 2,760,069
Netherlands 2,314,750
Italy 2,168,130
Spain 1,836,901

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 £
United States 1,754,291 1,361,773 -392,518
France 615,373 2,144,696 +1,529,323
Netherlands 1,652,120 662,630 -989,490
Italy 177,885 1,990,245 +1,812,360
Spain 518,171 1,318,730 +800,559
Ireland 878,920 514,302 -364,618
Sweden 83,961 1,169,381 +1,085,420
Norway 552,471 597,827 +45,356
Poland 979,927 65,256 -914,671
Germany 693,357 232,610 -460,747

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 703,112
China 108,074
Italy 28,626
Ireland 1,576
United States 47

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 655,912 47,200 -608,712
China 66,381 41,693 -24,688
Italy 28,626 0 -28,626
Ireland 1,160 416 -744
United States 3 44 +41
Taiwan 30 0 -30

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) 13,239,870
Air transport 5,625,231
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 5,508,430
Other 850,277
Road transport 36,128

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) 4,938,765 8,301,105 +3,362,340
Air transport 2,710,265 2,914,966 +204,701
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 3,627,525 1,880,905 -1,746,620
Other 754,400 95,877 -658,523
Road transport 36,128 0 -36,128

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 8,539,051
London Heathrow Airport 2,521,340
Hull 1,700,855
Manchester Airport 1,419,596
London Gateway Port 1,187,058

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 2,661,013 5,878,038 +3,217,025
London Heathrow Airport 1,239,235 1,282,105 +42,870
Hull 435,118 1,265,737 +830,619
Manchester Airport 466,159 953,437 +487,278
London Gateway Port 616,202 570,856 -45,346
Felixstowe 984,500 149,021 -835,479
Liverpool Docks 701,881 421,766 -280,115
Aberdeen Docks 488,108 543,023 +54,915
Southampton 599,423 261,799 -337,624
000 754,400 95,877 -658,523

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 8461

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

Description: Machines that cut, shape, or finish metal parts, including planing, shaping, and gear-cutting tools