Import/export HS code 731029: Various steel or iron containers

Other types of iron or steel containers, like boxes or drums, used for storing liquids or solids

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 75,198,832
Italy 38,036,560
Portugal 31,677,922
Germany 27,650,010
France 20,106,342

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 38,465,100 36,733,732 -1,731,368
Italy 21,378,900 16,657,660 -4,721,240
Portugal 16,321,339 15,356,583 -964,756
Germany 16,225,925 11,424,085 -4,801,840
France 11,405,018 8,701,324 -2,703,694
United States 8,400,169 6,163,513 -2,236,656
Netherlands 7,066,478 5,993,766 -1,072,712
Turkey 6,299,715 6,166,776 -132,939
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 2,764,261 1,860,148 -904,113
Belgium 2,142,411 1,483,242 -659,169

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 81,970,526
Italy 40,316,880
Portugal 33,432,897
Germany 27,143,990
France 14,512,099

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 41,995,003 39,975,523 -2,019,480
Italy 22,394,588 17,922,292 -4,472,296
Portugal 17,746,449 15,686,448 -2,060,001
Germany 15,277,391 11,866,599 -3,410,792
France 8,085,209 6,426,890 -1,658,319
Turkey 6,849,627 6,223,703 -625,924
United States 4,262,220 6,041,128 +1,778,908
Netherlands 5,748,539 4,345,855 -1,402,684
United Kingdom 2,801,877 1,686,393 -1,115,484
Belgium 2,933,184 768,893 -2,164,291

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 79
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 62
West Yorkshire 53
Greater Manchester 49
Outer London - West and North West 47

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 59 46 -13
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 54 38 -16
West Yorkshire 42 33 -9
Greater Manchester 36 32 -4
Outer London - West and North West 32 32 +0
Surrey, East and West Sussex 29 29 +0
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 24 26 +2
West Midlands 23 28 +5
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 26 19 -7
Shropshire and Staffordshire 27 23 -4

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) 127,369,106
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 117,118,577
Air transport 17,894,073
Other 6,065,779
Road transport 1,218,086

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) 69,643,083 57,726,023 -11,917,060
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 61,685,383 55,433,194 -6,252,189
Air transport 9,086,743 8,807,330 -279,413
Other 4,560,855 1,504,924 -3,055,931
Road transport 690,715 527,371 -163,344

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 54,713,898
Dover 45,683,450
Southampton 30,867,702
London 24,371,621
Immingham Docks 22,030,056

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 32,253,828 22,460,070 -9,793,758
Dover 23,047,043 22,636,407 -410,636
Southampton 15,619,463 15,248,239 -371,224
London 11,576,723 12,794,898 +1,218,175
Immingham Docks 12,746,823 9,283,233 -3,463,590
Liverpool Docks 8,684,062 7,298,922 -1,385,140
Eurotunnel 7,610,513 5,681,225 -1,929,288
London Heathrow Airport 4,108,423 3,262,181 -846,242
London Gateway Port 1,230,538 6,040,765 +4,810,227
000 4,560,855 1,504,924 -3,055,931

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 263
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 146
Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 102
Other manufacturing 57
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 48

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2025-11 196
2025-10 212
2025-09 171
2025-08 161
2025-07 190

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 378
54m+ 318
15m-54m 123
0-1m 107
Other 56

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 £
Germany 18,927,293
Belgium 13,121,054
Taiwan 12,114,617
Italy 11,824,504
United States 10,468,561

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 £
Germany 8,211,479 10,715,814 +2,504,335
Belgium 5,605,035 7,516,019 +1,910,984
Taiwan 6,293,366 5,821,251 -472,115
Italy 5,481,771 6,342,733 +860,962
United States 3,834,005 6,634,556 +2,800,551
France 4,757,969 4,319,649 -438,320
Poland 3,027,187 5,331,483 +2,304,296
Israel 3,545,615 4,444,836 +899,221
Spain 4,381,639 2,713,925 -1,667,714
Japan 3,284,673 2,988,371 -296,302

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 £
Italy 133,458
XI 83,323
China 50,558
Latvia 16,518
Indonesia 10,399

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 £
Italy 91,968 41,490 -50,478
XI 19,014 64,309 +45,295
China 30,812 19,746 -11,066
Latvia 8,791 7,727 -1,064
Indonesia 6,406 3,993 -2,413
XU 3,596 5,839 +2,243
India 6,533 2,876 -3,657
Ireland 3,988 2,259 -1,729
Poland 695 2,473 +1,778
Germany 454 1,252 +798

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) 79,434,654
Air transport 36,000,858
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 19,908,202
Other 328,894
Road transport 39,949

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) 35,519,925 43,914,729 +8,394,804
Air transport 18,403,100 17,597,758 -805,342
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 11,846,274 8,061,928 -3,784,346
Other 175,508 153,386 -22,122
Road transport 39,949 0 -39,949

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 52,235,545
London Heathrow Airport 25,888,321
London 9,558,960
London Gateway Port 7,829,406
Felixstowe 4,362,148

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 24,070,460 28,165,085 +4,094,625
London Heathrow Airport 13,020,626 12,867,695 -152,931
London 3,682,690 5,876,270 +2,193,580
London Gateway Port 3,682,582 4,146,824 +464,242
Felixstowe 2,391,172 1,970,976 -420,196
Harwich 1,340,110 2,309,641 +969,531
London Stansted Airport 1,933,973 1,709,347 -224,626
Immingham Docks 1,874,127 1,590,295 -283,832
Greenock 2,463,052 0 -2,463,052
Heysham 1,213,519 1,033,941 -179,578

Related HS codes

What this shows: Sibling or child HS codes in the same classification branch.

Quick facts

HS code: 731029

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

Description: Other types of iron or steel containers, like boxes or drums, used for storing liquids or solids