Import/export HS code 42021211: Plastic or fabric briefcases and school bags

Executive cases, briefcases, and school bags made with outer surfaces of plastic or fabric

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 £
China 5,468,838
France 1,368,256
Netherlands 464,955
Italy 261,667
Poland 239,189

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 £
China 2,759,409 2,709,429 -49,980
France 702,628 665,628 -37,000
Netherlands 440,333 24,622 -415,711
Italy 109,739 151,928 +42,189
Poland 206,642 32,547 -174,095
United States 101,217 50,472 -50,745
Canada 98,902 21,621 -77,281
Switzerland 39,565 62,587 +23,022
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 22,619 56,058 +33,439
Germany 52,791 23,469 -29,322

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 £
China 6,337,298
France 960,059
Poland 208,859
Italy 188,146
Cambodia 167,977

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 £
China 3,276,379 3,060,919 -215,460
France 495,971 464,088 -31,883
Poland 186,965 21,894 -165,071
Italy 92,644 95,502 +2,858
Cambodia 145,642 22,335 -123,307
India 109,710 28,630 -81,080
Romania 36,131 89,072 +52,941
Canada 96,632 8,246 -88,386
United States 69,858 22,855 -47,003
Pakistan 50,248 17,592 -32,656

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 29
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 10
Greater Manchester 9
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 8
Inner London - East 8

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
Inner London - West 23 18 -5
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 5 8 +3
Greater Manchester 5 6 +1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 7 3 -4
Inner London - East 2 7 +5
Outer London - West and North West 5 4 -1
Surrey, East and West Sussex 5 3 -2
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 3 2 -1
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 2 4 +2
West Midlands 5 1 -4

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) 4,117,475
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,327,374
Other 1,441,651
Air transport 657,220
Road transport 40,186

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) 1,756,201 2,361,274 +605,073
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,464,662 862,712 -601,950
Other 1,041,495 400,156 -641,339
Air transport 392,229 264,991 -127,238
Road transport 0 40,186 +40,186

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 2,662,466
000 1,441,651
Southampton 861,236
Dover 742,965
Eurotunnel 724,970

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 £
Felixstowe 1,440,775 1,221,691 -219,084
000 1,041,495 400,156 -641,339
Southampton 500,612 360,624 -139,988
Dover 526,432 216,533 -309,899
Eurotunnel 314,747 410,223 +95,476
499 1,241 468,805 +467,564
London Heathrow Airport 150,653 145,006 -5,647
London Gateway Port 13,128 258,993 +245,865
Dover / Eurotunnel 125,288 106,032 -19,256
London Stansted Airport 133,156 33,162 -99,994

Importer companies by SIC division

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

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 58
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 41
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 9
Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities 5
Computer programming, consultancy and related activities 4

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2025-11 19
2025-10 21
2025-09 17
2025-08 13
2025-07 23

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+ 58
1m-15m 41
0-1m 11
Other 11
15m-54m 10

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 434,348
France 349,670
Switzerland 273,459
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 229,975
Germany 172,801

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 157,515 276,833 +119,318
France 139,536 210,134 +70,598
Switzerland 229,195 44,264 -184,931
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 162,533 67,442 -95,091
Germany 85,538 87,263 +1,725
Ireland 136,288 23,919 -112,369
Italy 100,683 55,385 -45,298
Netherlands 98,960 26,603 -72,357
Japan 33,227 78,073 +44,846
United Arab Emirates 52,990 51,774 -1,216

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 £
China 66,048
XU 9,242
United States 496
Indonesia 75
India 67

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 £
China 54,866 11,182 -43,684
XU 6,975 2,267 -4,708
United States 0 496 +496
Indonesia 75 0 -75
India 67 0 -67
Netherlands 63 0 -63
XI 0 21 +21

Export volume by transport

What this shows: Export value by transport mode used to ship goods from the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Air transport 1,960,798
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 866,977
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 241,703
Other 76,012

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 £
Air transport 1,154,311 806,487 -347,824
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 458,608 408,369 -50,239
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 34,793 206,910 +172,117
Other 62,046 13,966 -48,080

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
East Midlands Airport 915,650
Dover / Eurotunnel 678,451
London Heathrow Airport 471,146
ZLC 423,774
London Stansted Airport 120,613

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 £
East Midlands Airport 582,365 333,285 -249,080
Dover / Eurotunnel 336,622 341,829 +5,207
London Heathrow Airport 251,943 219,203 -32,740
ZLC 231,611 192,163 -39,448
London Stansted Airport 82,832 37,781 -45,051
Southampton 0 107,561 +107,561
Liverpool Docks 24,470 60,795 +36,325
000 62,046 13,966 -48,080
Dover 27,672 24,932 -2,740
London Gateway Port 6,204 33,014 +26,810

Quick facts

HS code: 42021211

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

Description: Executive cases, briefcases, and school bags made with outer surfaces of plastic or fabric