Import/export HS code 56012110: Absorbent cotton wadding

Highly absorbent cotton wadding, often used in medical or hygiene products

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 £
Italy 22,796,041
India 13,178,337
Belgium 12,164,020
Bulgaria 10,930,394
China 7,148,972

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 £
Italy 10,988,022 11,808,019 +819,997
India 6,863,371 6,314,966 -548,405
Belgium 6,409,072 5,754,948 -654,124
Bulgaria 5,103,974 5,826,420 +722,446
China 3,458,142 3,690,830 +232,688
Turkey 2,816,271 2,741,240 -75,031
Netherlands 2,730,925 2,414,502 -316,423
Germany 3,087,881 1,712,576 -1,375,305
Greece 1,630,040 1,543,927 -86,113
France 1,360,277 913,683 -446,594

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 £
Italy 23,029,376
India 13,334,921
Bulgaria 11,369,013
Turkey 7,894,035
China 7,793,808

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 £
Italy 11,078,001 11,951,375 +873,374
India 6,992,781 6,342,140 -650,641
Bulgaria 5,309,426 6,059,587 +750,161
Turkey 4,002,344 3,891,691 -110,653
China 3,908,949 3,884,859 -24,090
Germany 4,046,393 3,432,396 -613,997
France 3,144,420 2,907,706 -236,714
Netherlands 2,205,760 2,587,167 +381,407
Greece 1,422,525 1,286,424 -136,101
Spain 2,099,342 67,294 -2,032,048

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 18
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 9
West Midlands 6
West Yorkshire 6
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 5

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 13 10 -3
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 8 5 -3
West Midlands 5 6 +1
West Yorkshire 5 4 -1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 5 3 -2
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 4 3 -1
Outer London - West and North West 5 1 -4
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 3 4 +1
Greater Manchester 3 3 +0
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 2 3 +1

Import volume by transport

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

Top 5 values

Transport £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 47,603,082
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 35,665,117
Other 6,627,659
Air transport 831,622
Road transport 336,861

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 £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 25,085,461 22,517,621 -2,567,840
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 17,325,790 18,339,327 +1,013,537
Other 4,166,841 2,460,818 -1,706,023
Air transport 427,580 404,042 -23,538
Road transport 20,671 316,190 +295,519

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London 23,877,262
Felixstowe 17,818,629
Dover 13,292,794
000 6,627,659
London Gateway Port 5,301,734

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 10,478,040 13,399,222 +2,921,182
Felixstowe 11,049,578 6,769,051 -4,280,527
Dover 6,576,846 6,715,948 +139,102
000 4,166,841 2,460,818 -1,706,023
London Gateway Port 416,403 4,885,331 +4,468,928
Immingham Docks 3,500,816 1,404,703 -2,096,113
Liverpool Docks 2,245,467 2,302,215 +56,748
Southampton 2,584,722 1,549,946 -1,034,776
Middlesbrough 1,135,856 693,388 -442,468
Harwich 1,145,482 664,789 -480,693

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 46
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 29
Other manufacturing 7
Other personal service activities 4
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 3

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 27
2025-11 28
2025-10 29
2025-09 18
2025-08 20

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+ 41
1m-15m 31
15m-54m 13
Other 13
0-1m 9

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 3,516,276
Denmark 2,286,874
United States 1,312,829
Taiwan 412,400
Poland 237,349

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 1,814,543 1,701,733 -112,810
Denmark 1,171,732 1,115,142 -56,590
United States 498,004 814,825 +316,821
Taiwan 248,183 164,217 -83,966
Poland 113,752 123,597 +9,845
France 73,711 92,154 +18,443
Singapore 72,749 77,659 +4,910
United Arab Emirates 75,560 70,376 -5,184
Belgium 100,672 30,297 -70,375
Hungary 46,281 39,065 -7,216

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 £
France 456,451
Italy 37,891
Ireland 10,497
India 2,585
Portugal 1,764

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 £
France 265,923 190,528 -75,395
Italy 23,194 14,697 -8,497
Ireland 0 10,497 +10,497
India 2,585 0 -2,585
Portugal 985 779 -206
China 423 623 +200
XI 10 992 +982
Turkey 518 0 -518

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) 5,774,861
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 2,197,607
Air transport 979,679
Other 513,016
Road transport 10,443

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) 2,764,157 3,010,704 +246,547
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,249,127 948,480 -300,647
Air transport 382,491 597,188 +214,697
Other 294,565 218,451 -76,114
Road transport 10,443 0 -10,443

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Holyhead 2,675,080
Immingham Docks 2,290,603
Southampton 953,562
London Heathrow Airport 756,853
Dover / Eurotunnel 615,987

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 £
Holyhead 1,246,622 1,428,458 +181,836
Immingham Docks 1,193,709 1,096,894 -96,815
Southampton 435,908 517,654 +81,746
London Heathrow Airport 251,635 505,218 +253,583
Dover / Eurotunnel 301,542 314,445 +12,903
London Gateway Port 259,697 323,799 +64,102
000 294,565 218,451 -76,114
Liverpool Docks 237,225 51,798 -185,427
Felixstowe 71,794 54,012 -17,782
East Midlands Airport 74,981 34,528 -40,453

Quick facts

HS code: 56012110

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

Description: Highly absorbent cotton wadding, often used in medical or hygiene products