Town trade profile · DL1 · DL2 · DL3

Darlington importers & exporters

HMRC records show 156 businesses trading internationally from Darlington over the last six months. That puts it second in County Durham for trade activity. Most of that activity sits in machinery and mechanical appliances, plastics and plastic articles, electrical machinery and electronics. Looking ahead, our model expects import activity here to ease back by around 5.3% over the next three months.

Refreshed every 24 hours · last run 05/10/2026 at 06:14HMRC release in view: Aug 26Snapshot: 2026-10-04.1

2,033Import declarations▼ 9.8% on the 6 months before

1,125Export declarations

−5.3%Forecast, next 3 monthsBased on 2 years of data

156Trading businesses

Top 10 businesses by 6-month activity Free tier

Ranked by declaration volume and months active. Hover any bar in the 24-month indicators for that month's figures. Log in for keyword search and HMRC category filters across all 156 businesses.

Keyword

HMRC category

Activity

★ Most active in DarlingtonFiled more customs declarations than any other Darlington business over the last six months — roughly 36% of the town's total import activity, mostly in mineral fuels and oils.

Most active business

CUMMINS LTD.

733 import declarations 663 export declarations DL1 *Ch. 27Ch. 32Ch. 34Ch. 35 Active in 5 of the last 6 months

Recent shipments include compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine "diesel or semi-diesel engine" (excl. engines for marine propulsion and engines for vehicles of chapter 87), machinery and apparatus for filtering or purifying gases (excl. isotope separators and intake air filters for internal combustion engines, and catalytic converters and particulate filters for purifying or filtering exhaust gases from internal combust, bearing housings for machinery, not incorporating ball or roller bearings; plain shaft bearings for machinery.

▼ Expected to slow by 12.4% over the next 3 months, based on their last 2 years

Imports — 2 years of monthly activity733 in the last 6 months

Exports — 2 years of monthly activity663 in the last 6 months

Earlier monthsLast 6 monthsOur forecast for the next 3

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Among the most active

BRADLEYS FURNITURE CARRIERS LIMITED

2 import declarations 62 export declarations DL1 *Ch. 12Ch. 22Ch. 25Ch. 39 Active in 5 of the last 6 months

Recent shipments include antiques, over 100 but at most 250 years old, antiques, over 250 years old, paintings, e.g. oil paintings, watercolours and pastels, and drawings executed entirely by hand (excl. over 100 years old, and technical drawings and the like of heading 4906, and hand-painted or hand-decorated manufactured articles).

▼ Expected to slow by 100.0% over the next 3 months, based on their last 2 years

Imports — 2 years of monthly activity2 in the last 6 months

Exports — 2 years of monthly activity62 in the last 6 months

Earlier monthsLast 6 monthsOur forecast for the next 3

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Among the most active

MERRYBENT IMPORTS LTD

62 import declarations Imports only DL1 *Ch. 52Ch. 54Ch. 61Ch. 62 Active in 5 of the last 6 months

Recent shipments include women's or girls' dresses of synthetic fibres (excl. knitted or crocheted and petticoats), women's or girls' blouses, shirts and shirt-blouses of textile materials (excl. of silk, silk waste, wool, fine animal hair, cotton or man-made fibres, knitted or crocheted and vests), women's or girls' dresses of textile materials (excl. of wool, fine animal hair, cotton or man-made fibres, knitted or crocheted and petticoats).

▲ Expected to increase by 38.9% over the next 3 months, based on their last 2 years

Imports — 2 years of monthly activity62 in the last 6 months

Exports — 2 years of monthly activity0 in the last 6 months

Earlier monthsLast 6 monthsOur forecast for the next 3

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Among the most active

KOPPERS PERFORMANCE CHEMICALS UK LIMITED

23 import declarations 37 export declarations DL1 *Ch. 27Ch. 28Ch. 29Ch. 31 Active in 5 of the last 6 months

Recent shipments include basic synthetic organic dyes; preparations based on basic synthetic organic dyes of a kind used to dye fabrics or produce colorant preparations (excl. preparations of heading 3207, 3208, 3209, 3210, 3213 and 3215), carbonates and peroxocarbonates "percarbonates"; commercial ammonium carbonate containing ammonium carbamate (excl. disodium carbonate, sodium hydrogencarbonate "sodium bicarbonate", potassium carbonates, calcium carbonate, barium carbonate, lithium, benzoic acid, its salts and esters (excl. inorganic or organic compounds of mercury).

▲ Expected to increase by 62.5% over the next 3 months, based on their last 2 years

Imports — 2 years of monthly activity23 in the last 6 months

Exports — 2 years of monthly activity37 in the last 6 months

Earlier monthsLast 6 monthsOur forecast for the next 3

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Among the most active

PARAGON RAPID TECHNOLOGIES

40 import declarations 18 export declarations DL2 *Ch. 32Ch. 39Ch. 40Ch. 42 Active in 5 of the last 6 months

Recent shipments include articles of aluminium, n.e.s., articles of iron or steel, n.e.s. (excl. cast articles or articles of iron or steel wire), parts and accessories, for tractors, motor vehicles for the transport of ten or more persons, motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons, motor vehicles for the transport of goods and special purpose motor v.

▲ Expected to increase by 22.2% over the next 3 months, based on their last 2 years

Imports — 2 years of monthly activity40 in the last 6 months

Exports — 2 years of monthly activity18 in the last 6 months

Earlier monthsLast 6 monthsOur forecast for the next 3

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146 more Darlington businesses

Every importer and exporter in DL1 / DL2 / DL3 with monthly activity, 24-month indicators, forecasts, Companies House records, AI research and validated contact reveals.

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What Darlington trades

The most frequently declared goods across all 156 businesses in the last six months — useful for picking which trade lanes to prospect.

Compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine "diesel or semi-diesel engine" (excl. engines for marine propulsion and engines for vehicles of chapter 87)Articles of aluminium, n.e.s.Articles of iron or steel, n.e.s. (excl. cast articles or articles of iron or steel wire)Clutches and shaft couplings, incl. universal joints, for machineryArticles of vulcanised rubber (excl. hard rubber), n.e.s.Appliances for pipes, boiler shells, tanks, vats or the like (excl. pressure-reducing valves, valves for the control of pneumatic power transmission, check "non-return" valves and safety or relief valves)Parts and accessories, for bicycles, n.e.s.Threaded screws and bolts, of iron or steel, whether or not with their nuts and washers (excl. coach screws and other wood screws, screw hooks and screw rings, self-tapping screws, lag screws, stoppers, plugs and the like, threaded)

Common questions about trade in Darlington

How many businesses import or export from Darlington?

HMRC customs records show 156 businesses in Darlington (DL1, DL2, DL3) filed declarations over the last six months — 2,033 import declarations and 1,125 export declarations in total. This page is rebuilt every 24 hours as new HMRC data is published.

What do Darlington businesses import most?

The most common category is machinery and mechanical appliances. Across all Darlington traders the leading goods are compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine "diesel or semi-diesel engine" (excl. engines for marine propulsion and engines for vehicles of chapter 87), articles of aluminium, n.e.s., articles of iron or steel, n.e.s. (excl. cast articles or articles of iron or steel wire), clutches and shaft couplings, incl. universal joints, for machinery. You can filter the full list by HMRC category once logged in.

Is trade from Darlington growing?

Import activity is down 9.8% compared with the previous six months. Our model, which reads two years of monthly history, expects the next three months to soften by roughly 5.3%. That figure is our estimate, not an HMRC projection.

How do I get contact details for Darlington importers?

Create an account to see all 156 businesses, open their Companies House records, run AI research on their website and buying signals, and reveal validated email and LinkedIn contacts.

Nearby in County Durham

Other County Durham locations with active customs entries.

Darlington importers & exporters

Top 10 businesses by 6-month activity Free tier

CUMMINS LTD.

BRADLEYS FURNITURE CARRIERS LIMITED

MERRYBENT IMPORTS LTD

KOPPERS PERFORMANCE CHEMICALS UK LIMITED

PARAGON RAPID TECHNOLOGIES

146 more Darlington businesses

What Darlington trades

Common questions about trade in Darlington

Nearby in County Durham

Newton Aycliffe

Hartlepool

Billingham

Stockton-On-Tees