Import/export HS code 3205: Color lakes and preparations

Color lakes used in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals, often mixed with other substances

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 £
Peru 6,440,860
United States 1,839,842
Netherlands 1,336,284
India 445,043
Ireland 399,759

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 £
Peru 2,472,585 3,968,275 +1,495,690
United States 856,530 983,312 +126,782
Netherlands 789,463 546,821 -242,642
India 210,144 234,899 +24,755
Ireland 12,378 387,381 +375,003
Germany 110,102 149,621 +39,519
Belgium 63,876 181,171 +117,295
France 130,649 73,896 -56,753
Spain 78,976 98,776 +19,800
Australia 5,671 90,690 +85,019

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 £
Peru 6,638,501
United States 1,891,850
India 503,142
Germany 257,201
Netherlands 140,017

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 £
Peru 2,503,397 4,135,104 +1,631,707
United States 893,794 998,056 +104,262
India 238,864 264,278 +25,414
Germany 27,421 229,780 +202,359
Netherlands 36,775 103,242 +66,467
United Kingdom 129,052 8,753 -120,299
Italy 31,812 62,901 +31,089
Spain 34,695 42,040 +7,345
Belgium 6,353 29,850 +23,497
Turkey 3,198 20,004 +16,806

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Kent 5
Inner London - West 3
Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear 3
West Yorkshire 3
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 2

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
Kent 4 4 +0
Inner London - West 2 1 -1
Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear 3 2 -1
West Yorkshire 2 3 +1
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 1 2 +1
Lancashire 1 1 +0
Merseyside 0 2 +2
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 2 1 -1
Outer London - East and North East 2 2 +0
Outer London - West and North West 2 1 -1

Import volume by transport

What this shows: Import value by transport mode used to bring goods into the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Air transport 6,667,205
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 2,171,273
Other 1,730,823
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,013,074
Road transport 13,818

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 £
Air transport 2,370,756 4,296,449 +1,925,693
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,053,781 1,117,492 +63,711
Other 858,796 872,027 +13,231
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 500,938 512,136 +11,198
Road transport 0 13,818 +13,818

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 4,193,137
East Midlands Airport 2,299,925
000 1,730,823
Southampton 1,152,378
London 775,250

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 £
London Heathrow Airport 1,813,739 2,379,398 +565,659
East Midlands Airport 533,730 1,766,195 +1,232,465
000 858,796 872,027 +13,231
Southampton 556,852 595,526 +38,674
London 403,024 372,226 -30,798
Felixstowe 252,365 199,670 -52,695
Eurotunnel 85,344 163,994 +78,650
Dover 110,266 107,335 -2,931
London Gateway Port 40,976 119,424 +78,448
Leeds Bradford Airport 3,552 92,617 +89,065

Importer companies by SIC division

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

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Manufacture of food products 12
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 11
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 11
Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations 4
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 3

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 8
2025-11 12
2025-10 8
2025-09 13
2025-08 6

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+ 24
1m-15m 14
15m-54m 7
0-1m 1
Other 1

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 £
Turkey 5,278,470
Egypt 4,553,145
Italy 3,677,818
Spain 2,518,308
France 2,092,764

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 £
Turkey 2,336,577 2,941,893 +605,316
Egypt 2,324,737 2,228,408 -96,329
Italy 1,689,999 1,987,819 +297,820
Spain 1,179,494 1,338,814 +159,320
France 989,814 1,102,950 +113,136
Pakistan 920,870 1,045,805 +124,935
Germany 1,084,102 707,322 -376,780
Ireland 707,276 772,458 +65,182
Poland 567,871 847,327 +279,456
India 644,053 372,173 -271,880

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 14,617

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 6,259 8,358 +2,099

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) 25,271,400
Air transport 9,557,204
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 5,594,554
Other 14,617

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) 11,889,670 13,381,730 +1,492,060
Air transport 4,736,715 4,820,489 +83,774
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 2,907,303 2,687,251 -220,052
Other 6,259 8,358 +2,099

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 22,551,875
London Heathrow Airport 8,803,722
London Gateway Port 4,188,174
Dover 1,164,668
Holyhead 1,076,265

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 10,972,844 11,579,031 +606,187
London Heathrow Airport 4,246,704 4,557,018 +310,314
London Gateway Port 2,202,282 1,985,892 -216,390
Dover 220,461 944,207 +723,746
Holyhead 469,042 607,223 +138,181
Felixstowe 517,850 324,090 -193,760
Southampton 130,991 340,471 +209,480
Manchester Airport 205,836 154,739 -51,097
East Midlands Airport 233,254 65,816 -167,438
Heysham 100,969 114,208 +13,239

Quick facts

HS code: 3205

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

Description: Color lakes used in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals, often mixed with other substances