Import/export HS code 8461: Machines for cutting and shaping metal

Machines that cut, shape, or finish metal parts, including planing, shaping, and gear-cutting tools

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 £
Germany 18,779,301
China 12,130,533
Italy 7,320,772
Netherlands 5,240,665
Taiwan 4,594,597

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 £
Germany 10,078,205 8,701,096 -1,377,109
China 6,294,842 5,835,691 -459,151
Italy 3,731,155 3,589,617 -141,538
Netherlands 2,640,557 2,600,108 -40,449
Taiwan 2,351,616 2,242,981 -108,635
Switzerland 3,237,435 888,268 -2,349,167
South Korea 3,442,630 84,458 -3,358,172
France 1,406,273 1,615,171 +208,898
Turkey 1,416,518 1,229,080 -187,438
Norway 1,026,878 858,496 -168,382

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 £
Germany 17,541,811
China 13,111,449
Italy 7,467,917
Taiwan 5,027,005
Switzerland 4,208,992

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 £
Germany 9,484,723 8,057,088 -1,427,635
China 6,832,623 6,278,826 -553,797
Italy 3,874,934 3,592,983 -281,951
Taiwan 2,677,262 2,349,743 -327,519
Switzerland 3,236,370 972,622 -2,263,748
United States 2,621,712 1,078,943 -1,542,769
Netherlands 1,993,174 1,535,741 -457,433
South Korea 3,442,630 69,496 -3,373,134
Turkey 1,373,734 1,267,988 -105,746
Czechia 1,056,640 1,060,562 +3,922

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
West Midlands 38
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 26
Greater Manchester 23
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 23
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 21

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 23 24 +1
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 17 17 +0
Greater Manchester 13 13 +0
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 13 16 +3
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 12 14 +2
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 17 9 -8
West Yorkshire 17 11 -6
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 18 11 -7
North Eastern Scotland 10 9 -1
Shropshire and Staffordshire 12 7 -5

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) 40,932,064
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 27,306,717
Air transport 7,171,233
Road transport 995,613
Other 198,966

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) 22,559,632 18,372,432 -4,187,200
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 15,985,235 11,321,482 -4,663,753
Air transport 4,492,445 2,678,788 -1,813,657
Road transport 745,898 249,715 -496,183
Other 98,251 100,715 +2,464

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 18,681,831
Felixstowe 12,720,412
Eurotunnel 6,173,865
Southampton 5,553,788
ZLC 5,304,034

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 £
Dover 9,707,171 8,974,660 -732,511
Felixstowe 6,716,219 6,004,193 -712,026
Eurotunnel 3,436,748 2,737,117 -699,631
Southampton 3,212,839 2,340,949 -871,890
ZLC 3,678,242 1,625,792 -2,052,450
Immingham Docks 2,039,204 2,017,678 -21,526
Tyne 3,697,571 17,739 -3,679,832
London Gateway Port 680,555 1,745,226 +1,064,671
Aberdeen Docks 1,048,885 1,151,869 +102,984
East Midlands Airport 1,115,603 679,030 -436,573

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 136
Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 56
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 41
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 28
Other manufacturing 26

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 48
2025-11 59
2025-10 65
2025-09 44
2025-08 55

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 201
54m+ 120
0-1m 49
15m-54m 37
Other 30

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 States 3,279,053
France 2,802,767
Netherlands 2,358,354
Italy 2,203,904
Spain 1,962,260

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 States 1,861,590 1,417,463 -444,127
France 612,628 2,190,139 +1,577,511
Netherlands 1,506,821 851,533 -655,288
Italy 213,659 1,990,245 +1,776,586
Spain 643,530 1,318,730 +675,200
Ireland 875,372 566,914 -308,458
Sweden 83,006 1,171,493 +1,088,487
Norway 553,630 597,827 +44,197
Germany 801,087 264,258 -536,829
Poland 969,261 75,922 -893,339

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 709,780
China 113,253
Italy 28,626
Ireland 1,576
Nicaragua 1,348

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 655,279 54,501 -600,778
China 59,271 53,982 -5,289
Italy 28,626 0 -28,626
Ireland 1,160 416 -744
Nicaragua 1,348 0 -1,348
United States 3 44 +41
Taiwan 30 0 -30

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) 13,528,173
Air transport 5,925,925
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 5,689,805
Other 863,739
Road transport 43,626

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) 4,698,172 8,830,001 +4,131,829
Air transport 2,823,882 3,102,043 +278,161
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 3,605,336 2,084,469 -1,520,867
Other 748,215 115,524 -632,691
Road transport 43,626 0 -43,626

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 8,715,205
London Heathrow Airport 2,756,465
Hull 1,700,855
Manchester Airport 1,430,326
London Gateway Port 1,218,753

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 2,533,848 6,181,357 +3,647,509
London Heathrow Airport 1,430,381 1,326,084 -104,297
Hull 435,118 1,265,737 +830,619
Manchester Airport 476,889 953,437 +476,548
London Gateway Port 471,897 746,856 +274,959
Felixstowe 1,017,723 158,946 -858,777
Liverpool Docks 703,718 450,422 -253,296
Aberdeen Docks 488,108 543,023 +54,915
Southampton 611,101 261,799 -349,302
000 748,215 115,524 -632,691

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 8461

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

Description: Machines that cut, shape, or finish metal parts, including planing, shaping, and gear-cutting tools