Import/export HS code 3908: Plastic raw materials: Polyamides

Basic forms of polyamides, used to make plastics like nylon. These are the starting materials for many plastic products

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 136,887,633
United States 113,462,614
Canada 68,893,149
Netherlands 61,673,582
France 45,133,717

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 72,802,417 64,085,216 -8,717,201
United States 67,676,825 45,785,789 -21,891,036
Canada 39,077,536 29,815,613 -9,261,923
Netherlands 32,343,333 29,330,249 -3,013,084
France 23,881,383 21,252,334 -2,629,049
Belgium 23,459,451 11,381,094 -12,078,357
Italy 15,830,329 14,806,372 -1,023,957
Switzerland 7,540,592 6,740,932 -799,660
Spain 6,820,282 6,376,751 -443,531
Turkey 5,171,318 4,104,334 -1,066,984

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 136,796,918
Germany 123,254,594
Canada 68,609,823
France 64,487,724
Italy 37,306,868

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 77,286,108 59,510,810 -17,775,298
Germany 64,050,406 59,204,188 -4,846,218
Canada 38,953,206 29,656,617 -9,296,589
France 37,289,492 27,198,232 -10,091,260
Italy 19,308,424 17,998,444 -1,309,980
Netherlands 21,464,390 15,019,808 -6,444,582
Belgium 12,791,339 4,871,684 -7,919,655
Spain 7,114,406 6,331,421 -782,985
Switzerland 6,418,547 6,317,168 -101,379
Turkey 5,307,354 4,189,334 -1,118,020

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Greater Manchester 26
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 22
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 17
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 17
Surrey, East and West Sussex 15

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
Greater Manchester 22 20 -2
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 17 17 +0
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 12 12 +0
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 13 13 +0
Surrey, East and West Sussex 10 9 -1
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 11 9 -2
West Yorkshire 11 9 -2
Inner London - West 10 10 +0
Shropshire and Staffordshire 11 10 -1
West Midlands 9 8 -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) 277,244,202
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 241,090,084
Air transport 13,083,955
Road transport 12,232,287
Other 2,032,509

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) 148,110,484 129,133,718 -18,976,766
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 141,532,154 99,557,930 -41,974,224
Air transport 5,856,114 7,227,841 +1,371,727
Road transport 7,297,834 4,934,453 -2,363,381
Other 1,472,718 559,791 -912,927
Rail transport 6,438 0 -6,438

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 120,424,885
Belfast Port 82,748,710
Southampton 72,556,478
Immingham Docks 45,762,041
London 27,163,828

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 63,087,250 57,337,635 -5,749,615
Belfast Port 51,298,021 31,450,689 -19,847,332
Southampton 40,705,620 31,850,858 -8,854,762
Immingham Docks 24,229,251 21,532,790 -2,696,461
London 17,257,557 9,906,271 -7,351,286
Felixstowe 14,533,096 10,916,998 -3,616,098
Liverpool Docks 12,574,373 10,878,138 -1,696,235
Hull 9,979,946 11,085,206 +1,105,260
Eurotunnel 12,499,936 7,690,003 -4,809,933
Newhaven 8,577,807 6,435,884 -2,141,923

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 77
Manufacture of rubber and plastic products 68
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 60
Other manufacturing 34
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 19

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 97
2025-11 84
2025-10 95
2025-09 96
2025-08 87

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+ 143
1m-15m 92
15m-54m 43
Other 22
0-1m 21

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 14,929,782
United States 14,793,089
France 11,711,374
Belgium 7,947,977
Netherlands 7,082,919

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 7,692,613 7,237,169 -455,444
United States 8,160,582 6,632,507 -1,528,075
France 6,258,401 5,452,973 -805,428
Belgium 5,188,350 2,759,627 -2,428,723
Netherlands 3,824,427 3,258,492 -565,935
China 3,900,606 2,554,066 -1,346,540
Mexico 1,958,806 1,753,212 -205,594
Italy 1,960,303 1,604,979 -355,324
Sweden 2,098,509 262,226 -1,836,283
Romania 1,543,809 740,744 -803,065

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 £
Italy 168,605
XI 156,822
United States 48,788
Germany 19,785
India 12,093

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 £
Italy 168,605 0 -168,605
XI 1,353 155,469 +154,116
United States 25,412 23,376 -2,036
Germany 11,986 7,799 -4,187
India 12,093 0 -12,093
China 3,033 6,038 +3,005
Netherlands 902 1,189 +287
Ireland 407 153 -254
Poland 220 231 +11
Czechia 0 99 +99

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) 52,909,349
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 36,486,669
Air transport 7,042,333
Other 450,186
Rail transport 157,248

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) 29,860,112 23,049,237 -6,810,875
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 19,896,082 16,590,587 -3,305,495
Air transport 4,271,014 2,771,319 -1,499,695
Other 245,823 204,363 -41,460
Rail transport 157,248 0 -157,248
Road transport 74,471 79,857 +5,386

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 35,860,390
Immingham Docks 13,462,790
Southampton 7,268,892
Hull 6,161,380
Felixstowe 5,526,263

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 19,320,203 16,540,187 -2,780,016
Immingham Docks 8,489,915 4,972,875 -3,517,040
Southampton 3,872,446 3,396,446 -476,000
Hull 3,681,477 2,479,903 -1,201,574
Felixstowe 3,695,623 1,830,640 -1,864,983
London Gateway Port 2,119,671 2,867,857 +748,186
Belfast Port 2,129,548 1,872,589 -256,959
Liverpool Docks 1,525,554 1,398,469 -127,085
London Heathrow Airport 1,580,299 1,232,115 -348,184
East Midlands Airport 1,388,834 812,969 -575,865

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 3908

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

Description: Basic forms of polyamides, used to make plastics like nylon. These are the starting materials for many plastic products