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 23,379,149
India 12,938,718
Belgium 12,337,694
Bulgaria 10,818,357
China 6,957,644

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 11,313,439 12,065,710 +752,271
India 6,782,616 6,156,102 -626,514
Belgium 6,502,005 5,835,689 -666,316
Bulgaria 5,288,771 5,529,586 +240,815
China 3,421,297 3,536,347 +115,050
Turkey 2,995,455 2,506,297 -489,158
Germany 3,009,740 2,009,425 -1,000,315
Netherlands 2,777,230 2,138,599 -638,631
Greece 1,472,470 1,583,864 +111,394
France 1,379,039 925,299 -453,740

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 23,590,631
India 13,101,290
Bulgaria 11,240,223
Turkey 7,934,168
China 7,579,346

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 11,405,547 12,185,084 +779,537
India 6,905,742 6,195,548 -710,194
Bulgaria 5,379,764 5,860,459 +480,695
Turkey 4,285,580 3,648,588 -636,992
China 3,865,491 3,713,855 -151,636
Germany 3,860,061 3,619,084 -240,977
France 3,161,149 2,844,804 -316,345
Netherlands 2,229,353 2,514,980 +285,627
Greece 1,379,414 1,250,482 -128,932
Spain 2,191,898 154,914 -2,036,984

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 19
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 14 11 -3
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 8 6 -2
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) 48,625,852
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 34,730,365
Other 6,753,909
Air transport 815,382
Road transport 261,319

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) 25,518,256 23,107,596 -2,410,660
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 17,422,849 17,307,516 -115,333
Other 4,080,992 2,672,917 -1,408,075
Air transport 430,883 384,499 -46,384
Road transport 23,061 238,258 +215,197

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London 23,184,543
Felixstowe 17,924,382
Dover 13,915,645
000 6,753,909
Immingham Docks 5,105,559

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 9,946,100 13,238,443 +3,292,343
Felixstowe 11,040,712 6,883,670 -4,157,042
Dover 6,903,721 7,011,924 +108,203
000 4,080,992 2,672,917 -1,408,075
Immingham Docks 3,622,865 1,482,694 -2,140,171
London Gateway Port 418,647 4,291,841 +3,873,194
Liverpool Docks 2,295,865 2,188,590 -107,275
Southampton 2,628,816 1,577,501 -1,051,315
Harwich 1,321,106 634,693 -686,413
Middlesbrough 1,236,278 701,560 -534,718

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 30
Other manufacturing 7
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 4
Other personal service activities 4

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2025-11 28
2025-10 29
2025-09 18
2025-08 20
2025-07 32

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 10

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 3,494,973
Denmark 2,269,053
United States 1,330,374
Taiwan 412,400
Poland 232,839

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 1,799,049 1,695,924 -103,125
Denmark 1,077,879 1,191,174 +113,295
United States 483,099 847,275 +364,176
Taiwan 223,578 188,822 -34,756
Poland 120,210 112,629 -7,581
Singapore 79,212 85,010 +5,798
France 74,229 73,714 -515
United Arab Emirates 80,500 63,210 -17,290
Belgium 103,012 30,297 -72,715
Hungary 40,401 44,945 +4,544

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 464,791
Italy 39,406
Ireland 10,497
India 2,585
Portugal 1,576

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 281,752 183,039 -98,713
Italy 21,683 17,723 -3,960
Ireland 0 10,497 +10,497
India 1,417 1,168 -249
Portugal 832 744 -88
XU 927 322 -605
China 364 682 +318
XI 15 992 +977
Turkey 403 115 -288

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) 5,671,551
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 2,206,406
Air transport 1,035,316
Other 522,675
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) 2,641,205 3,030,346 +389,141
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,229,301 977,105 -252,196
Air transport 392,809 642,507 +249,698
Other 307,393 215,282 -92,111
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 2,639,662
Immingham Docks 2,278,926
Southampton 949,016
London Heathrow Airport 808,175
Dover / Eurotunnel 606,248

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 1,297,249 1,342,413 +45,164
Immingham Docks 1,102,062 1,176,864 +74,802
Southampton 387,560 561,456 +173,896
London Heathrow Airport 257,116 551,059 +293,943
Dover / Eurotunnel 306,137 300,111 -6,026
London Gateway Port 242,661 297,257 +54,596
000 307,393 215,282 -92,111
Liverpool Docks 182,483 96,629 -85,854
Felixstowe 78,257 61,363 -16,894
East Midlands Airport 79,411 33,031 -46,380

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