Import/export HS code 42021291: 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 26,661,082
Netherlands 3,887,826
Italy 1,877,366
Czechia 1,470,707
France 1,236,921

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 15,622,099 11,038,983 -4,583,116
Netherlands 1,901,429 1,986,397 +84,968
Italy 1,289,108 588,258 -700,850
Czechia 946,537 524,170 -422,367
France 717,740 519,181 -198,559
Belgium 429,580 659,028 +229,448
Germany 572,868 438,693 -134,175
Cambodia 360,484 574,890 +214,406
India 297,350 392,364 +95,014
United States 328,202 348,590 +20,388

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 34,027,743
Italy 2,023,237
Indonesia 1,731,762
Viet Nam 1,174,776
Cambodia 1,137,606

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 19,850,557 14,177,186 -5,673,371
Italy 1,328,281 694,956 -633,325
Indonesia 750,495 981,267 +230,772
Viet Nam 399,668 775,108 +375,440
Cambodia 399,520 738,086 +338,566
India 387,111 487,885 +100,774
United States 209,040 109,702 -99,338
Romania 106,636 86,598 -20,038
Pakistan 22,769 139,049 +116,280
Greece 157,612 979 -156,633

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 57
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 26
Greater Manchester 19
Inner London - East 19
Surrey, East and West Sussex 14

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 36 37 +1
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 16 23 +7
Greater Manchester 13 13 +0
Inner London - East 11 11 +0
Surrey, East and West Sussex 10 10 +0
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 10 7 -3
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 11 8 -3
Outer London - West and North West 7 7 +0
Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 7 3 -4
Essex 6 6 +0

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) 20,055,212
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 12,537,359
Air transport 8,148,031
Other 2,563,807
Road transport 66,482

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) 10,816,817 9,238,395 -1,578,422
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 7,981,850 4,555,509 -3,426,341
Air transport 4,091,625 4,056,406 -35,219
Other 1,427,880 1,135,927 -291,953
Road transport 34,913 31,569 -3,344

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 16,306,296
Southampton 4,376,137
London Heathrow Airport 2,816,121
000 2,563,807
Dover / Eurotunnel 2,087,020

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 10,163,241 6,143,055 -4,020,186
Southampton 2,357,273 2,018,864 -338,409
London Heathrow Airport 1,675,739 1,140,382 -535,357
000 1,427,880 1,135,927 -291,953
Dover / Eurotunnel 1,408,638 678,382 -730,256
Harwich 963,590 933,949 -29,641
Dover 909,698 871,927 -37,771
London Gateway Port 570,073 1,206,845 +636,772
Birmingham Airport 942,151 809,477 -132,674
Eurotunnel 768,665 889,196 +120,531

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 118
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 117
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 13
Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities 12
Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products 10

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2025-11 56
2025-10 47
2025-09 40
2025-08 49
2025-07 53

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+ 111
1m-15m 105
Other 37
0-1m 36
15m-54m 31

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 £
France 872,910
China 733,170
Netherlands 722,946
Germany 599,729
Ireland 482,680

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 £
France 510,206 362,704 -147,502
China 372,426 360,744 -11,682
Netherlands 358,501 364,445 +5,944
Germany 322,656 277,073 -45,583
Ireland 284,779 197,901 -86,878
United States 295,376 186,468 -108,908
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 304,192 114,213 -189,979
United Arab Emirates 37,944 253,151 +215,207
Canada 219,502 68,022 -151,480
Belgium 43,642 220,249 +176,607

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 35,061
XU 14,206
Spain 843
Taiwan 663
India 193

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 17,841 17,220 -621
XU 13,432 774 -12,658
Spain 138 705 +567
Taiwan 0 663 +663
India 95 98 +3
Indonesia 120 0 -120
Cambodia 74 0 -74
Ireland 63 0 -63
Denmark 0 30 +30

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 3,952,315
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,825,091
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 854,043
Other 51,253
Road transport 8,460

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 2,083,592 1,868,723 -214,869
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,321,455 1,503,636 +182,181
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 500,745 353,298 -147,447
Other 31,763 19,490 -12,273
Road transport 8,460 0 -8,460

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 1,716,213
Dover / Eurotunnel 1,570,165
East Midlands Airport 1,382,072
Dover 828,839
ZLC 422,617

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 £
London Heathrow Airport 953,308 762,905 -190,403
Dover / Eurotunnel 700,031 870,134 +170,103
East Midlands Airport 761,814 620,258 -141,556
Dover 374,450 454,389 +79,939
ZLC 253,078 169,539 -83,539
London Gateway Port 254,910 93,629 -161,281
Southampton 115,412 118,499 +3,087
Holyhead 74,741 108,952 +34,211
Birmingham Airport 1,288 169,540 +168,252
London Stansted Airport 48,540 81,614 +33,074

Quick facts

HS code: 42021291

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