Import/export HS code 4906: Architectural and engineering plans

Original hand-drawn plans, blueprints, and designs for buildings, machinery, or maps. Includes handwritten notes and photocopies

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 £
United States 2,680,779
France 1,837,532
Germany 1,287,585
Sweden 120,414
Ireland 81,551

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 £
United States 1,017,888 1,662,891 +645,003
France 64,022 1,773,510 +1,709,488
Germany 1,137,543 150,042 -987,501
Sweden 59,296 61,118 +1,822
Ireland 65,648 15,903 -49,745
Australia 49,652 0 -49,652
Spain 30,794 15,793 -15,001
Italy 20,724 21,312 +588
Austria 10,118 26,111 +15,993
Japan 12,489 18,877 +6,388

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 £
United States 2,560,243
France 1,830,260
Germany 1,142,979
Italy 181,079
United Kingdom 149,240

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 1,028,500 1,531,743 +503,243
France 41,996 1,788,264 +1,746,268
Germany 992,179 150,800 -841,379
Italy 131,827 49,252 -82,575
United Kingdom 12,043 137,197 +125,154
Czechia 86,860 6,512 -80,348
Spain 29,895 34,585 +4,690
Ireland 50,522 0 -50,522
Australia 49,652 0 -49,652
Austria 11,672 32,623 +20,951

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 11
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 6
Inner London - East 5
Greater Manchester 4
Lancashire 3

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 6 7 +1
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 4 2 -2
Inner London - East 3 2 -1
Greater Manchester 1 3 +2
Lancashire 3 0 -3
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 2 1 -1
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 1 1 +0
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 1 1 +0
Devon 1 1 +0
Essex 0 2 +2

Import volume by transport

What this shows: Import value by transport mode used to bring goods into the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Air transport 5,443,913
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 683,660
Other 125,222
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 55,525

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 £
Air transport 1,873,689 3,570,224 +1,696,535
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 608,723 74,937 -533,786
Other 222 125,000 +124,778
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 23,061 32,464 +9,403

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 4,732,794
Dover 583,912
East Midlands Airport 236,618
Glasgow Airport 231,640
London Stansted Airport 198,844

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 £
London Heathrow Airport 1,440,012 3,292,782 +1,852,770
Dover 531,105 52,807 -478,298
East Midlands Airport 126,914 109,704 -17,210
Glasgow Airport 228,914 2,726 -226,188
London Stansted Airport 62,786 136,058 +73,272
000 222 125,000 +124,778
Dover / Eurotunnel 53,430 23,263 -30,167
Birmingham Airport 5,667 21,220 +15,553
Thamesport 17,964 987 -16,977
Eurotunnel 9,955 5,244 -4,711

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 10
Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products 6
Manufacture of other transport equipment 6
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 6
Other manufacturing 5

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 2
2025-10 1
2025-09 3
2025-08 4
2025-07 3

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+ 36
1m-15m 10
15m-54m 8
Other 5
0-1m 1

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 8,643,324
India 1,621,849
United Arab Emirates 1,478,666
Switzerland 543,686
New Zealand 374,241

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 654,221 7,989,103 +7,334,882
India 1,617,349 4,500 -1,612,849
United Arab Emirates 1,477,602 1,064 -1,476,538
Switzerland 539,015 4,671 -534,344
New Zealand 372,241 2,000 -370,241
France 125,088 224,952 +99,864
Netherlands 11,728 315,032 +303,304
Germany 195,531 112,760 -82,771
South Korea 252,000 1,728 -250,272
Jordan 243,028 0 -243,028

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 255

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 254 1 -253

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 14,285,908
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 961,121
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 412,324
Road transport 984
Other 255

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 5,401,990 8,883,918 +3,481,928
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 310,795 650,326 +339,531
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 393,492 18,832 -374,660
Road transport 984 0 -984
Other 254 1 -253

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 11,172,347
London Stansted Airport 1,924,986
East Midlands Airport 882,946
Dover / Eurotunnel 693,044
Felixstowe 375,594

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 3,224,827 7,947,520 +4,722,693
London Stansted Airport 1,589,902 335,084 -1,254,818
East Midlands Airport 344,805 538,141 +193,336
Dover / Eurotunnel 267,450 425,594 +158,144
Felixstowe 370,991 4,603 -366,388
Manchester Airport 177,402 2,752 -174,650
Harwich 0 163,800 +163,800
ZLC 57,988 57,471 -517
Dover 39,810 18,385 -21,425
London Gateway Port 20,281 8,773 -11,508

Quick facts

HS code: 4906

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

Description: Original hand-drawn plans, blueprints, and designs for buildings, machinery, or maps. Includes handwritten notes and photocopies