Import/export HS code 28051990: Various alkali metals

Other alkali metals not specifically listed, used in various industrial 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 £
United States 24,556,825
France 851,362
China 465,238
Germany 201,773
Netherlands 92,737

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 £
United States 14,069,731 10,487,094 -3,582,637
France 490,784 360,578 -130,206
China 21,785 443,453 +421,668
Germany 118,968 82,805 -36,163
Netherlands 24,077 68,660 +44,583
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 6,888 14,496 +7,608
Switzerland 2,233 7,072 +4,839
Belgium 5,121 1,100 -4,021
Luxembourg 0 5,066 +5,066
Japan 2,637 1,841 -796

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 £
United States 24,544,880
France 850,060
China 586,712
Germany 211,806
Switzerland 9,305

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 £
United States 14,069,731 10,475,149 -3,594,582
France 490,784 359,276 -131,508
China 54,800 531,912 +477,112
Germany 122,039 89,767 -32,272
Switzerland 2,233 7,072 +4,839
Luxembourg 0 5,066 +5,066
Japan 2,637 1,841 -796
United Kingdom 0 1,090 +1,090
Turkey 0 992 +992
Australia 0 951 +951

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 2
Shropshire and Staffordshire 2
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 1
Greater Manchester 1
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 1

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
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 2 1 -1
Shropshire and Staffordshire 1 2 +1
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 1 1 +0
Greater Manchester 1 1 +0
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 1 1 +0
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 1 1 +0
South East Wales 0 1 +1
Surrey, East and West Sussex 1 1 +0
West Central Scotland 1 1 +0
West Yorkshire 1 0 -1

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) 24,741,390
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 908,708
Air transport 563,009
Road transport 2,233

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) 14,040,981 10,700,409 -3,340,572
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 554,696 354,012 -200,684
Air transport 144,314 418,695 +274,381
Road transport 2,233 0 -2,233

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Southampton 21,506,918
London Gateway Port 2,747,582
Portsmouth 563,378
Felixstowe 546,260
Glasgow Airport 192,820

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 £
Southampton 12,210,543 9,296,375 -2,914,168
London Gateway Port 1,830,438 917,144 -913,294
Portsmouth 376,942 186,436 -190,506
Felixstowe 87,126 459,134 +372,008
Glasgow Airport 77,701 115,119 +37,418
Harwich 27,715 94,408 +66,693
Brize Norton 0 107,799 +107,799
London Stansted Airport 28,675 70,733 +42,058
Immingham Docks 0 67,555 +67,555
Eurotunnel 50,252 16,481 -33,771

Importer companies by SIC division

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

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 3
Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products 3
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 3
Manufacture of electrical equipment 2
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 2

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2025-11 4
2025-10 2
2025-09 2
2025-08 2
2025-07 4

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+ 6
1m-15m 4
15m-54m 2

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 £
Germany 683,984
France 195,248
United States 136,781
Switzerland 101,288
Italy 81,253

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 £
Germany 345,647 338,337 -7,310
France 93,786 101,462 +7,676
United States 16,839 119,942 +103,103
Switzerland 56,304 44,984 -11,320
Italy 47,214 34,039 -13,175
Philippines 43,119 5,353 -37,766
Belgium 31,850 16,457 -15,393
Ireland 1,457 22,925 +21,468
India 13,714 10,377 -3,337
Spain 15,222 8,829 -6,393

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 £
United States 486
XU 13

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 £
United States 252 234 -18
XU 13 0 -13

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) 1,027,933
Air transport 258,401
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 168,033
Other 499

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) 519,268 508,665 -10,603
Air transport 105,650 152,751 +47,101
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 77,052 90,981 +13,929
Other 265 234 -31

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 566,833
Hull 317,473
London Stansted Airport 202,234
Immingham Docks 108,678
Southampton 66,425

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 453,522 113,311 -340,211
Hull 40,216 277,257 +237,041
London Stansted Airport 70,943 131,291 +60,348
Immingham Docks 22,041 86,637 +64,596
Southampton 1,639 64,786 +63,147
Grangemouth Docks 43,119 9,738 -33,381
Dover 14,108 26,130 +12,022
ZLC 12,922 9,136 -3,786
Holyhead 0 18,476 +18,476
London Heathrow Airport 4,545 11,297 +6,752

Quick facts

HS code: 28051990

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

Description: Other alkali metals not specifically listed, used in various industrial applications