Import/export HS code 120740: Sesame seeds

Small seeds from the sesame plant, used in cooking and oil production

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 £
India 8,184,061
Guatemala 4,016,577
China 2,244,634
Netherlands 880,710
Turkey 820,337

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 £
India 2,710,880 5,473,181 +2,762,301
Guatemala 1,637,559 2,379,018 +741,459
China 1,216,377 1,028,257 -188,120
Netherlands 309,073 571,637 +262,564
Turkey 461,674 358,663 -103,011
France 244,589 560,243 +315,654
Pakistan 94,725 261,420 +166,695
Greece 146,002 174,142 +28,140
Belgium 83,861 146,630 +62,769
Germany 64,941 56,117 -8,824

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 £
India 8,288,945
Guatemala 4,316,584
China 2,318,849
Nigeria 949,599
Chad 747,923

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 £
India 2,781,891 5,507,054 +2,725,163
Guatemala 1,714,217 2,602,367 +888,150
China 1,237,842 1,081,007 -156,835
Nigeria 359,451 590,148 +230,697
Chad 418,446 329,477 -88,969
Pakistan 168,130 395,786 +227,656
Greece 132,407 140,648 +8,241
Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 79,690 174,073 +94,383
Egypt 105,541 50,266 -55,275
Somalia 0 126,552 +126,552

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Outer London - West and North West 12
Inner London - East 8
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 8
Greater Manchester 7
Outer London - East and North East 7

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
Outer London - West and North West 9 9 +0
Inner London - East 8 6 -2
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 4 7 +3
Greater Manchester 4 7 +3
Outer London - East and North East 5 5 +0
West Midlands 6 6 +0
Essex 4 5 +1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 3 4 +1
Inner London - West 4 3 -1
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 3 1 -2

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) 16,472,163
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,117,227
Other 71,723
Air transport 18,897
Road transport 2,682

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) 6,615,465 9,856,698 +3,241,233
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 641,092 1,476,135 +835,043
Other 37,396 34,327 -3,069
Air transport 3,694 15,203 +11,509
Road transport 1,800 882 -918

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 8,147,334
London Gateway Port 7,499,938
Southampton 1,345,657
Dover 589,187
Eurotunnel 397,476

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 3,391,820 4,755,514 +1,363,694
London Gateway Port 3,182,329 4,317,609 +1,135,280
Southampton 206,020 1,139,637 +933,617
Dover 224,140 365,047 +140,907
Eurotunnel 72,159 325,317 +253,158
Harwich 117,743 184,852 +67,109
Immingham Docks 6,952 129,184 +122,232
London 37,929 56,253 +18,324
000 37,396 34,327 -3,069
Dover / Eurotunnel 11,210 46,082 +34,872

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 72
Manufacture of food products 22
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 16
Food and beverage service activities 8
Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities 3

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 22
2025-11 21
2025-10 20
2025-09 21
2025-08 21

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 39
54m+ 29
0-1m 16
15m-54m 15
Other 4

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 £
Netherlands 629,891
Germany 531,725
Ireland 391,976
United States 113,978
Jordan 106,323

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 £
Netherlands 352,957 276,934 -76,023
Germany 455,116 76,609 -378,507
Ireland 164,779 227,197 +62,418
United States 84,128 29,850 -54,278
Jordan 0 106,323 +106,323
Iceland 84,634 15,279 -69,355
Poland 92,153 0 -92,153
Sweden 0 59,287 +59,287
Spain 1,452 54,051 +52,599
France 48 42,901 +42,853

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 98,326
China 9,315
Belgium 5,552
Bulgaria 5,168
Japan 546

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 41,369 56,957 +15,588
China 3,533 5,782 +2,249
Belgium 731 4,821 +4,090
Bulgaria 2,082 3,086 +1,004
Japan 214 332 +118
Ireland 0 450 +450
France 101 0 -101

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) 1,529,423
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 445,380
Other 132,083
Air transport 94,165

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) 858,406 671,017 -187,389
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 275,090 170,290 -104,800
Other 55,996 76,087 +20,091
Air transport 90,584 3,581 -87,003

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 641,264
Dover / Eurotunnel 476,799
Harwich 209,637
Immingham Docks 183,093
Liverpool Docks 152,212

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 £
Felixstowe 419,619 221,645 -197,974
Dover / Eurotunnel 275,614 201,185 -74,429
Harwich 135,029 74,608 -60,421
Immingham Docks 173,272 9,821 -163,451
Liverpool Docks 94,552 57,660 -36,892
London Gateway Port 22,211 111,308 +89,097
000 55,996 76,087 +20,091
London Heathrow Airport 88,216 1,982 -86,234
Holyhead 8,133 72,682 +64,549
Southampton 0 29,850 +29,850

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 120740

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

Description: Small seeds from the sesame plant, used in cooking and oil production