Import/export HS code 5406: Man-made yarn for retail sale

Synthetic or artificial yarn sold in small packages, not for sewing. Ideal for knitting or weaving projects

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 1,064,087
Turkey 451,502
United States 50,447
Japan 48,929
Canada 20,913

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 736,339 327,748 -408,591
Turkey 245,052 206,450 -38,602
United States 28,053 22,394 -5,659
Japan 30,453 18,476 -11,977
Canada 6,426 14,487 +8,061
France 7,883 12,166 +4,283
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 4,781 14,327 +9,546
Italy 4,005 14,127 +10,122
Viet Nam 1,254 15,229 +13,975
Spain 7,964 3,936 -4,028

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 1,093,488
Turkey 471,793
Japan 60,141
United States 22,735
Germany 18,400

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 756,434 337,054 -419,380
Turkey 263,983 207,810 -56,173
Japan 30,964 29,177 -1,787
United States 10,862 11,873 +1,011
Germany 6,426 11,974 +5,548
Viet Nam 2,230 15,229 +12,999
France 2,088 12,156 +10,068
Italy 900 11,211 +10,311
Spain 7,576 3,591 -3,985
United Kingdom 4,062 5,908 +1,846

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 4
West Yorkshire 4
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 3
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 3
Greater Manchester 2

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
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 4 1 -3
West Yorkshire 2 3 +1
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 2 2 +0
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 2 3 +1
Greater Manchester 1 2 +1
Lancashire 0 2 +2
North Somerset, Somerset and Dorset 1 1 +0
North Yorkshire 1 2 +1
Outer London - West and North West 1 1 +0
Surrey, East and West Sussex 2 0 -2

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) 1,319,347
Air transport 334,306
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 104,459
Other 13,263

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) 878,668 440,679 -437,989
Air transport 153,924 180,382 +26,458
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 58,826 45,633 -13,193
Other 8,506 4,757 -3,749

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 1,124,846
London Heathrow Airport 172,317
Southampton 149,625
Birmingham Airport 44,773
London Gateway Port 43,055

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 762,295 362,551 -399,744
London Heathrow Airport 105,082 67,235 -37,847
Southampton 133,808 15,817 -117,991
Birmingham Airport 7,056 37,717 +30,661
London Gateway Port 2,973 40,082 +37,109
Manchester Airport 6,264 33,894 +27,630
London Stansted Airport 22,826 13,744 -9,082
East Midlands Airport 9,392 24,256 +14,864
Dover 11,670 20,262 +8,592
Dover / Eurotunnel 22,362 9,156 -13,206

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 19
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 13
Manufacture of textiles 5
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 2
Other manufacturing 2

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 9
2025-11 2
2025-10 7
2025-09 5
2025-08 7

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 19
54m+ 10
15m-54m 6
0-1m 5
Other 4

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 £
Ireland 154,733
Italy 20,831
France 12,622
Malaysia 10,168
India 7,615

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 £
Ireland 96,348 58,385 -37,963
Italy 10,987 9,844 -1,143
France 7,009 5,613 -1,396
Malaysia 1,287 8,881 +7,594
India 7,615 0 -7,615
United States 0 6,947 +6,947
Romania 0 3,119 +3,119
Germany 3,107 0 -3,107
Netherlands 3,076 0 -3,076
Hungary 0 2,679 +2,679

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 £
Viet Nam 4,514
Canada 2,513

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 £
Viet Nam 3,134 1,380 -1,754
Canada 1,217 1,296 +79

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) 166,925
Air transport 37,279
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 14,954
Other 12,319

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) 97,326 69,599 -27,727
Air transport 16,568 20,711 +4,143
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 11,575 3,379 -8,196
Other 6,596 5,723 -873

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Liverpool Docks 85,932
Holyhead 55,042
Dover / Eurotunnel 26,143
ZLC 16,694
London Heathrow Airport 14,545

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 £
Liverpool Docks 62,729 23,203 -39,526
Holyhead 25,583 29,459 +3,876
Dover / Eurotunnel 9,206 16,937 +7,731
ZLC 12,456 4,238 -8,218
London Heathrow Airport 2,925 11,620 +8,695
000 6,596 5,723 -873
London Gateway Port 9,064 1,386 -7,678
East Midlands Airport 1,187 3,414 +2,227
Southampton 0 1,993 +1,993
Heysham 1,440 0 -1,440

Quick facts

HS code: 5406

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

Description: Synthetic or artificial yarn sold in small packages, not for sewing. Ideal for knitting or weaving projects