Import/export HS code 3203: Natural dyes and colorants

Dyes and colorants made from plants or animals, including extracts and chemically defined preparations

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 £
Netherlands 28,692,289
Germany 17,710,699
Ireland 16,908,997
China 9,312,070
Italy 7,710,688

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 £
Netherlands 15,028,137 13,664,152 -1,363,985
Germany 9,559,328 8,151,371 -1,407,957
Ireland 9,163,944 7,745,053 -1,418,891
China 4,087,886 5,224,184 +1,136,298
Italy 3,901,400 3,809,288 -92,112
Denmark 2,864,268 2,453,305 -410,963
France 3,079,369 2,094,355 -985,014
India 2,038,893 2,062,109 +23,216
Spain 1,358,361 1,603,222 +244,861
United States 1,202,095 1,492,491 +290,396

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 £
Netherlands 21,214,461
Ireland 16,220,541
China 13,262,746
Germany 12,636,291
Italy 8,495,865

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 £
Netherlands 11,752,359 9,462,102 -2,290,257
Ireland 8,714,290 7,506,251 -1,208,039
China 6,589,367 6,673,379 +84,012
Germany 5,906,625 6,729,666 +823,041
Italy 4,312,956 4,182,909 -130,047
Spain 2,889,625 2,459,148 -430,477
India 2,576,962 2,664,317 +87,355
Denmark 2,313,066 1,925,757 -387,309
France 2,062,137 1,487,026 -575,111
United States 1,693,182 1,684,586 -8,596

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 21
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 15
Greater Manchester 14
Inner London - West 14
Outer London - West and North West 13

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
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 18 13 -5
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 13 11 -2
Greater Manchester 10 10 +0
Inner London - West 12 11 -1
Outer London - West and North West 12 10 -2
Merseyside 9 8 -1
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 8 9 +1
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 5 7 +2
Surrey, East and West Sussex 6 8 +2
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 6 5 -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) 67,438,662
Air transport 19,562,107
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 19,180,804
Other 2,023,655
Road transport 44,890

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) 35,183,528 32,255,134 -2,928,394
Air transport 8,970,422 10,591,685 +1,621,263
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 10,565,894 8,614,910 -1,950,984
Other 1,117,793 905,862 -211,931
Road transport 3,381 41,509 +38,128

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Eurotunnel 18,878,246
Dover 16,804,372
Holyhead 13,073,312
Felixstowe 8,141,735
Hull 8,141,203

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 £
Eurotunnel 11,041,215 7,837,031 -3,204,184
Dover 8,693,921 8,110,451 -583,470
Holyhead 6,782,774 6,290,538 -492,236
Felixstowe 3,937,033 4,204,702 +267,669
Hull 4,193,450 3,947,753 -245,697
London Heathrow Airport 2,585,230 3,224,253 +639,023
East Midlands Airport 2,036,191 3,437,860 +1,401,669
London 2,224,671 2,273,243 +48,572
Birmingham Airport 2,127,457 1,958,165 -169,292
Immingham Docks 1,313,228 1,975,537 +662,309

Importer companies by SIC division

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

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Manufacture of food products 98
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 72
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 27
Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations 18
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 17

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 69
2025-11 63
2025-10 68
2025-09 73
2025-08 66

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+ 96
1m-15m 78
15m-54m 40
0-1m 18
Other 15

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 £
Ireland 6,452,623
France 6,232,465
United States 4,975,836
Germany 4,715,094
Ukraine 4,487,959

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 £
Ireland 4,007,456 2,445,167 -1,562,289
France 3,596,319 2,636,146 -960,173
United States 2,724,583 2,251,253 -473,330
Germany 2,757,364 1,957,730 -799,634
Ukraine 2,403,710 2,084,249 -319,461
Netherlands 2,093,595 1,978,021 -115,574
Denmark 2,087,832 1,697,068 -390,764
Poland 1,869,613 1,839,501 -30,112
Trinidad and Tobago 956,250 1,491,225 +534,975
Turkey 1,504,793 886,050 -618,743

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 7,283
Peru 2,456
Germany 38
Ireland 2

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 6,023 1,260 -4,763
Peru 2,456 0 -2,456
Germany 31 7 -24
Ireland 2 0 -2

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) 43,902,546
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 11,603,223
Air transport 10,569,404
Road transport 20,367
Other 12,318

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) 24,785,033 19,117,513 -5,667,520
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 5,636,052 5,967,171 +331,119
Air transport 5,591,763 4,977,641 -614,122
Road transport 12,807 7,560 -5,247
Other 9,770 2,548 -7,222

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 32,136,014
London Heathrow Airport 7,746,047
Holyhead 5,886,682
London Gateway Port 5,546,301
Immingham Docks 3,742,883

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 18,108,259 14,027,755 -4,080,504
London Heathrow Airport 3,862,678 3,883,369 +20,691
Holyhead 3,678,885 2,207,797 -1,471,088
London Gateway Port 2,789,278 2,757,023 -32,255
Immingham Docks 1,731,272 2,011,611 +280,339
Dover 1,510,902 1,427,518 -83,384
Liverpool Docks 1,145,321 927,000 -218,321
Manchester Airport 1,072,944 721,160 -351,784
Southampton 704,995 734,094 +29,099
Felixstowe 367,676 677,318 +309,642

Quick facts

HS code: 3203

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

Description: Dyes and colorants made from plants or animals, including extracts and chemically defined preparations