Import/export HS code 42021990: Containers made from other materials

Containers made from materials not covered in other codes, such as paperboard or vulcanised fibre

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 26,437,126
Denmark 1,333,378
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 810,940
United States 797,667
France 788,846

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 13,935,398 12,501,728 -1,433,670
Denmark 1,177,878 155,500 -1,022,378
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 501,578 309,362 -192,216
United States 438,244 359,423 -78,821
France 595,605 193,241 -402,364
Italy 390,165 232,167 -157,998
Germany 338,830 264,558 -74,272
Netherlands 156,383 349,009 +192,626
India 206,745 261,782 +55,037
Belgium 349,869 77,082 -272,787

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 30,041,891
Italy 696,888
France 640,053
India 495,999
United States 442,718

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 16,458,361 13,583,530 -2,874,831
Italy 465,350 231,538 -233,812
France 509,441 130,612 -378,829
India 213,334 282,665 +69,331
United States 209,652 233,066 +23,414
Pakistan 182,204 153,297 -28,907
Germany 182,078 149,756 -32,322
Poland 113,535 209,490 +95,955
Viet Nam 43,827 180,891 +137,064
Belgium 135,194 61,317 -73,877

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 59
Outer London - West and North West 31
Greater Manchester 29
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 23
Inner London - East 21

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 39 32 -7
Outer London - West and North West 22 18 -4
Greater Manchester 20 17 -3
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 15 11 -4
Inner London - East 16 9 -7
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 14 11 -3
West Midlands 14 10 -4
Surrey, East and West Sussex 12 8 -4
West Yorkshire 10 12 +2
Essex 8 9 +1

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) 22,603,841
Air transport 7,194,609
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 3,125,033
Other 2,193,321
Road transport 189,505

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) 11,751,916 10,851,925 -899,991
Air transport 3,720,856 3,473,753 -247,103
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,207,184 917,849 -1,289,335
Other 1,748,245 445,076 -1,303,169
Road transport 131,197 58,308 -72,889

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 11,320,467
Southampton 7,024,730
London Gateway Port 2,535,652
Birmingham Airport 2,433,500
000 2,193,321

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 6,617,616 4,702,851 -1,914,765
Southampton 3,531,373 3,493,357 -38,016
London Gateway Port 572,721 1,962,931 +1,390,210
Birmingham Airport 1,078,994 1,354,506 +275,512
000 1,748,245 445,076 -1,303,169
London Heathrow Airport 1,237,204 823,232 -413,972
London Stansted Airport 353,489 644,012 +290,523
East Midlands Airport 588,394 265,127 -323,267
Immingham Docks 598,504 145,050 -453,454
Dover 413,267 217,365 -195,902

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 140
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 137
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 30
Other manufacturing 23
Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities 16

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2025-11 54
2025-10 47
2025-09 36
2025-08 38
2025-07 59

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
1m-15m 144
54m+ 132
0-1m 45
15m-54m 44
Other 41

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 £
Netherlands 1,001,299
United States 818,513
Denmark 534,190
Germany 520,634
United Arab Emirates 516,922

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 £
Netherlands 497,794 503,505 +5,711
United States 492,379 326,134 -166,245
Denmark 398,076 136,114 -261,962
Germany 258,194 262,440 +4,246
United Arab Emirates 257,331 259,591 +2,260
China 269,073 133,246 -135,827
Qatar 213,164 176,813 -36,351
France 188,680 198,372 +9,692
Norway 313,569 72,051 -241,518
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 208,110 168,185 -39,925

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 £
Pakistan 351,937
China 26,480
XU 9,874
Germany 496

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 £
Pakistan 351,809 128 -351,681
China 546 25,934 +25,388
XU 787 9,087 +8,300
Germany 0 496 +496

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 3,523,982
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,895,162
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,638,916
Other 388,787
Road transport 14,537

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 2,017,451 1,506,531 -510,920
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,405,082 1,490,080 +84,998
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 834,628 804,288 -30,340
Other 353,142 35,645 -317,497
Road transport 14,537 0 -14,537

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 2,257,813
London Heathrow Airport 1,500,823
East Midlands Airport 1,084,870
Immingham Docks 528,603
ZLC 459,497

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 1,041,069 1,216,744 +175,675
London Heathrow Airport 662,488 838,335 +175,847
East Midlands Airport 817,729 267,141 -550,588
Immingham Docks 345,245 183,358 -161,887
ZLC 259,548 199,949 -59,599
Southampton 197,383 206,800 +9,417
London Gateway Port 85,763 308,029 +222,266
000 353,142 35,645 -317,497
London Stansted Airport 203,159 158,373 -44,786
Felixstowe 167,562 94,308 -73,254

Quick facts

HS code: 42021990

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

Description: Containers made from materials not covered in other codes, such as paperboard or vulcanised fibre