Import/export HS code 731512: Various types of iron or steel chains

Chains made of iron or steel, excluding roller chains, used in various industrial and mechanical applications

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 14,779,097
Germany 11,544,817
Italy 5,092,725
Viet Nam 4,243,953
Japan 2,805,644

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 £
China 8,189,732 6,589,365 -1,600,367
Germany 6,160,468 5,384,349 -776,119
Italy 2,903,846 2,188,879 -714,967
Viet Nam 3,061,983 1,181,970 -1,880,013
Japan 1,013,004 1,792,640 +779,636
France 885,754 1,073,382 +187,628
United States 545,529 642,037 +96,508
Finland 476,162 471,377 -4,785
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 596,170 115,592 -480,578
Denmark 531,335 68,132 -463,203

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 16,027,907
Germany 7,509,207
Italy 5,079,927
Viet Nam 4,279,104
Romania 3,661,996

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 9,073,743 6,954,164 -2,119,579
Germany 4,538,781 2,970,426 -1,568,355
Italy 2,766,105 2,313,822 -452,283
Viet Nam 3,109,936 1,169,168 -1,940,768
Romania 1,519,531 2,142,465 +622,934
Japan 1,066,083 1,993,497 +927,414
France 774,332 621,729 -152,603
United States 557,276 601,128 +43,852
Finland 501,272 478,179 -23,093
Denmark 349,304 33,739 -315,565

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
West Midlands 26
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 18
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 18
West Yorkshire 16
Greater Manchester 13

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
West Midlands 19 16 -3
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 15 12 -3
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 13 8 -5
West Yorkshire 11 9 -2
Greater Manchester 13 6 -7
Surrey, East and West Sussex 10 8 -2
Inner London - West 10 5 -5
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 8 7 -1
Cheshire 6 5 -1
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 8 9 +1

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) 23,568,881
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 10,341,951
Air transport 7,983,087
Rail transport 3,945,300
Other 291,207

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) 13,220,018 10,348,863 -2,871,155
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 5,644,315 4,697,636 -946,679
Air transport 4,242,964 3,740,123 -502,841
Rail transport 2,277,512 1,667,788 -609,724
Other 69,799 221,408 +151,609
Road transport 8,894 11,236 +2,342

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 14,123,670
Birmingham Airport 5,283,035
Southampton 5,067,445
Dover 4,085,070
NGO 3,943,666

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 9,323,587 4,800,083 -4,523,504
Birmingham Airport 2,706,212 2,576,823 -129,389
Southampton 2,820,673 2,246,772 -573,901
Dover 2,129,813 1,955,257 -174,556
NGO 2,277,512 1,666,154 -611,358
London Gateway Port 461,406 2,013,842 +1,552,436
Eurotunnel 1,311,178 1,070,897 -240,281
Immingham Docks 1,205,365 1,136,394 -68,971
London 353,644 686,348 +332,704
London Heathrow Airport 674,675 355,273 -319,402

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 61
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 41
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 27
Repair and installation of machinery and equipment 21
Other manufacturing 16

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 48
2025-11 57
2025-10 58
2025-09 55
2025-08 50

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+ 136
1m-15m 95
15m-54m 33
Other 23
0-1m 12

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 £
Italy 4,426,490
United States 3,167,379
Germany 2,588,544
Ireland 2,244,990
Spain 2,188,547

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 £
Italy 2,207,896 2,218,594 +10,698
United States 2,196,837 970,542 -1,226,295
Germany 1,071,666 1,516,878 +445,212
Ireland 1,214,552 1,030,438 -184,114
Spain 590,233 1,598,314 +1,008,081
France 1,056,946 858,077 -198,869
Poland 1,660,153 194,908 -1,465,245
Netherlands 694,767 624,670 -70,097
Philippines 372,165 799,615 +427,450
South Korea 575,875 555,178 -20,697

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 £
China 10,626
XI 4,032
Ireland 787
Germany 538
Romania 341

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 £
China 8,077 2,549 -5,528
XI 3,540 492 -3,048
Ireland 124 663 +539
Germany 94 444 +350
Romania 225 116 -109
Italy 0 287 +287

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) 19,225,807
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 11,774,988
Air transport 4,488,169
Other 19,926
Road transport 13,688

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) 9,994,723 9,231,084 -763,639
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 5,674,575 6,100,413 +425,838
Air transport 2,830,933 1,657,236 -1,173,697
Other 13,367 6,559 -6,808
Road transport 13,688 0 -13,688

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 14,913,997
London Gateway Port 5,684,152
Southampton 2,606,213
London Heathrow Airport 1,767,333
Holyhead 1,677,680

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 7,749,126 7,164,871 -584,255
London Gateway Port 3,029,153 2,654,999 -374,154
Southampton 699,284 1,906,929 +1,207,645
London Heathrow Airport 1,118,115 649,218 -468,897
Holyhead 905,185 772,495 -132,690
Manchester Airport 918,843 544,168 -374,675
Liverpool Docks 932,938 418,229 -514,709
Dover 536,308 686,356 +150,048
Felixstowe 662,354 532,281 -130,073
East Midlands Airport 585,773 269,688 -316,085

Quick facts

HS code: 731512

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

Description: Chains made of iron or steel, excluding roller chains, used in various industrial and mechanical applications