Import/export HS code 8304: Metal office supplies like filing cabinets, paper trays, and pen holders

Includes items such as filing cabinets, card-index cabinets, paper trays, and desk organizers made of metal, but not office furniture

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 10,357,862
Sweden 591,770
France 399,962
Spain 362,681
United States 307,474

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 5,487,692 4,870,170 -617,522
Sweden 218,235 373,535 +155,300
France 243,183 156,779 -86,404
Spain 118,131 244,550 +126,419
United States 117,391 190,083 +72,692
Netherlands 103,480 130,985 +27,505
Italy 116,997 113,441 -3,556
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 161,431 67,415 -94,016
Germany 119,282 91,363 -27,919
Taiwan 87,914 108,099 +20,185

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 11,408,315
Sweden 579,158
Spain 351,496
United States 244,436
Taiwan 199,965

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 6,079,964 5,328,351 -751,613
Sweden 209,555 369,603 +160,048
Spain 115,475 236,021 +120,546
United States 83,195 161,241 +78,046
Taiwan 91,866 108,099 +16,233
United Kingdom 72,161 54,940 -17,221
India 80,370 44,898 -35,472
Finland 91,752 26,169 -65,583
Italy 66,054 49,753 -16,301
France 77,546 24,423 -53,123

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 32
Inner London - East 17
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 15
Greater Manchester 15
West Yorkshire 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
Inner London - West 15 24 +9
Inner London - East 10 9 -1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 12 9 -3
Greater Manchester 9 10 +1
West Yorkshire 7 8 +1
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 8 6 -2
Essex 4 5 +1
Merseyside 6 5 -1
Outer London - West and North West 5 3 -2
Surrey, East and West Sussex 3 4 +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) 9,096,849
Air transport 2,772,479
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,817,657
Other 435,542

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) 5,079,088 4,017,761 -1,061,327
Air transport 1,319,477 1,453,002 +133,525
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 785,139 1,032,518 +247,379
Other 199,379 236,163 +36,784

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 5,624,194
Southampton 1,404,310
London Heathrow Airport 1,053,581
Dover 930,278
London Gateway Port 866,171

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 2,867,475 2,756,719 -110,756
Southampton 969,327 434,983 -534,344
London Heathrow Airport 577,672 475,909 -101,763
Dover 356,069 574,209 +218,140
London Gateway Port 235,381 630,790 +395,409
Birmingham Airport 374,782 384,137 +9,355
Liverpool Docks 511,987 44,444 -467,543
000 199,379 236,163 +36,784
London 347,183 44,856 -302,327
London Stansted Airport 74,992 230,137 +155,145

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 85
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 78
Other manufacturing 11
Manufacture of furniture 8
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 8

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2025-11 30
2025-10 28
2025-09 27
2025-08 34
2025-07 26

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 88
54m+ 60
0-1m 33
15m-54m 27
Other 25

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 £
United Arab Emirates 2,071,707
Ireland 1,203,369
United States 1,079,137
France 1,025,975
Iceland 731,867

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 £
United Arab Emirates 1,246,387 825,320 -421,067
Ireland 914,993 288,376 -626,617
United States 404,603 674,534 +269,931
France 562,838 463,137 -99,701
Iceland 726,675 5,192 -721,483
Canada 167,633 343,964 +176,331
Germany 213,909 115,973 -97,936
South Africa 36,880 212,153 +175,273
Spain 82,085 132,316 +50,231
China 90,938 122,754 +31,816

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 £
XI 78,995
China 1,869
Taiwan 540
XU 347

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 £
XI 1,877 77,118 +75,241
China 80 1,789 +1,709
Taiwan 347 193 -154
XU 205 142 -63

Export volume by transport

What this shows: Export value by transport mode used to ship goods from the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 4,412,166
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 3,385,782
Air transport 2,416,776
Other 81,751
Road transport 3,582

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 £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 2,718,700 1,693,466 -1,025,234
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,073,991 1,311,791 -762,200
Air transport 1,374,180 1,042,596 -331,584
Other 2,509 79,242 +76,733
Road transport 3,582 0 -3,582

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Gateway Port 2,149,874
Dover / Eurotunnel 2,077,849
London Heathrow Airport 1,530,750
Southampton 969,732
Holyhead 861,677

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 £
London Gateway Port 1,091,662 1,058,212 -33,450
Dover / Eurotunnel 1,080,710 997,139 -83,571
London Heathrow Airport 744,217 786,533 +42,316
Southampton 477,235 492,497 +15,262
Holyhead 741,495 120,182 -621,313
Middlesbrough 726,675 4,510 -722,165
Felixstowe 329,500 120,214 -209,286
East Midlands Airport 224,616 127,729 -96,887
Manchester Airport 228,984 28,599 -200,385
Liverpool Docks 132,481 64,116 -68,365

Quick facts

HS code: 8304

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

Description: Includes items such as filing cabinets, card-index cabinets, paper trays, and desk organizers made of metal, but not office furniture