Import/export HS code 321511: Black ink

Black-colored ink for printing, writing, or drawing

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 13,040,802
Netherlands 12,099,569
Japan 4,799,105
France 4,330,440
Belgium 3,936,505

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 6,881,798 6,159,004 -722,794
Netherlands 6,112,236 5,987,333 -124,903
Japan 2,103,895 2,695,210 +591,315
France 2,384,927 1,945,513 -439,414
Belgium 2,550,468 1,386,037 -1,164,431
United States 2,149,814 1,761,171 -388,643
Israel 1,026,117 1,454,241 +428,124
Italy 780,146 659,389 -120,757
Switzerland 470,913 895,213 +424,300
Singapore 1,161,134 176,957 -984,177

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 11,976,251
Japan 7,884,909
Netherlands 7,219,412
United States 5,619,769
France 5,043,121

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 6,193,051 5,783,200 -409,851
Japan 4,269,812 3,615,097 -654,715
Netherlands 3,644,552 3,574,860 -69,692
United States 2,845,865 2,773,904 -71,961
France 2,679,098 2,364,023 -315,075
Israel 1,442,160 1,484,080 +41,920
Belgium 1,586,929 1,182,716 -404,213
India 1,009,210 1,328,681 +319,471
Switzerland 610,477 810,396 +199,919
Spain 567,999 757,024 +189,025

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 13
Greater Manchester 9
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 8
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 7
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 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
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 10 11 +1
Greater Manchester 8 7 -1
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 6 8 +2
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 5 6 +1
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 6 5 -1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 3 3 +0
Kent 4 4 +0
Merseyside 5 4 -1
West Midlands 3 3 +0
Shropshire and Staffordshire 3 3 +0

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) 30,897,505
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 14,940,318
Air transport 8,136,517
Other 879,777
Road transport 129,426

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) 17,825,874 13,071,631 -4,754,243
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 6,101,312 8,839,006 +2,737,694
Air transport 3,734,022 4,402,495 +668,473
Other 553,839 325,938 -227,901
Road transport 51,463 77,963 +26,500
Rail transport 39,023 10,702 -28,321

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 12,648,520
Eurotunnel 6,583,151
Felixstowe 5,101,557
London Gateway Port 4,750,401
Birmingham Airport 3,259,011

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 6,336,162 6,312,358 -23,804
Eurotunnel 3,532,640 3,050,511 -482,129
Felixstowe 3,307,968 1,793,589 -1,514,379
London Gateway Port 1,699,264 3,051,137 +1,351,873
Birmingham Airport 1,427,164 1,831,847 +404,683
Immingham Docks 1,325,478 1,853,575 +528,097
Thamesport 1,288,657 1,215,820 -72,837
Killingholme 1,746,548 617,724 -1,128,824
Harwich 1,085,833 1,061,822 -24,011
London 1,252,211 787,372 -464,839

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 22
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 17
Printing and reproduction of recorded media 11
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 10
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 9

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 25
2025-11 29
2025-10 31
2025-09 28
2025-08 32

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+ 56
1m-15m 36
15m-54m 12
0-1m 10
Other 9

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 13,919,229
Netherlands 12,460,308
Austria 7,336,918
Germany 4,564,108
China 4,483,324

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 7,210,094 6,709,135 -500,959
Netherlands 6,718,932 5,741,376 -977,556
Austria 2,647,212 4,689,706 +2,042,494
Germany 2,860,092 1,704,016 -1,156,076
China 1,811,208 2,672,116 +860,908
Italy 3,592,859 602,751 -2,990,108
Turkey 1,442,274 2,146,514 +704,240
India 1,589,929 1,915,888 +325,959
France 1,598,262 1,387,799 -210,463
Ireland 1,237,052 1,058,681 -178,371

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 1,038
Nicaragua 26

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 0 1,038 +1,038
Nicaragua 0 26 +26

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) 49,096,196
Air transport 21,335,922
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 20,993,091
Road transport 25,070
Other 14,624

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) 25,936,092 23,160,104 -2,775,988
Air transport 10,013,707 11,322,215 +1,308,508
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 11,018,441 9,974,650 -1,043,791
Road transport 25,070 0 -25,070
Other 8,194 6,430 -1,764
Rail transport 0 3,385 +3,385

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 35,565,832
London Heathrow Airport 12,602,486
London Gateway Port 7,567,282
Immingham Docks 7,155,882
Southampton 5,264,852

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 18,907,991 16,657,841 -2,250,150
London Heathrow Airport 6,089,603 6,512,883 +423,280
London Gateway Port 3,716,721 3,850,561 +133,840
Immingham Docks 4,023,552 3,132,330 -891,222
Southampton 2,597,199 2,667,653 +70,454
Manchester Airport 2,005,137 2,992,504 +987,367
Liverpool Docks 2,695,862 2,193,154 -502,708
Dover 2,040,920 1,833,257 -207,663
East Midlands Airport 1,236,966 1,081,547 -155,419
Felixstowe 1,078,869 1,059,987 -18,882

Quick facts

HS code: 321511

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

Description: Black-colored ink for printing, writing, or drawing