How to find shippers by HS code in 6 steps

To find shippers by HS code, search shipment-level customs or bill of lading records for the product’s 4- or 6-digit code, limit them to your lane and the last 12 months, then sort by volume and recent activity. Exporters declare the same goods under different codes, so search the heading together with a product keyword, not one exact code. Then check each company before you reach out.

The same search finds importers from the destination side. Customs records from countries such as Vietnam and India name both the exporter and the buyer abroad. This guide walks through the process step by step, with a worked example from Vietnamese furniture exports to Germany.

Which HS code level to search

An HS code is the customs code for a product. The first six digits come from the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System and are the same in every member country. Countries add their own digits after that, so an 8- or 10-digit code only works inside one country’s tariff. More on the digits in what is HTS.

Level	Example	What it covers	Use it to
2-digit chapter	94	Furniture, bedding, lamps, prefabricated buildings	Size a market. Too broad for a lead list.
4-digit heading	9403	Other furniture	Start a search. Usually the best first filter.
6-digit subheading	9403.60	Other wooden furniture	Narrow down. Same in every country.
8 to 10 digits	9403.60.80 (US)	National split	Search inside one country only.

Step 1: Find the code for the cargo you want to move

Start from the cargo your team handles well: reefer, flat racks, FCL furniture, LCL consolidations, dangerous goods. Then find its code.

• Look it up in a national tariff search, such as the US HTS search or the UK Trade Tariff. Search by product name and read the heading notes.
• Check the commercial invoices or customs entries of customers you already move. The code they use is the code their competitors use.
• Write down the neighbouring headings too. Goods that sit on the line between two codes end up under both.

Step 2: Pick data that carries HS codes

Not all trade data has an HS code on every record. US import bills of lading are the biggest public source, but in the US records Coreties holds only about three in ten carry an HS code, so an HS code search on US data misses most shipments. Search the cargo description as well. Customs declaration data from countries such as Vietnam, India and Bangladesh carries the HS code and the declared value on almost every line, along with both companies. The difference is explained in what bill of lading data is.

Aggregate statistics such as UN Comtrade or US Census trade data are searchable by HS code for free, but they name no companies. Use them to check a lane is worth the effort, not to build the list.

Step 3: Search the heading, then widen it

One code rarely catches all the shippers of a product. In Coreties’ Vietnamese export records to Germany from August 2025 to July 2026, HS 9403.60 alone found about one acacia record in four. Here is how that happens.

Vietnam is a big furniture exporter: 3,400+ Vietnamese companies shipped furniture by sea in the 12 months to July 2026 (Vietnam data). Say your desk sells Ho Chi Minh City to Hamburg and wants the exporters of acacia wood furniture, a common product for German garden and home retailers.

In Coreties’ Vietnamese export records to Germany from August 2025 to July 2026, 4,200+ records describe goods made of acacia. They are spread like this:

• About two in three sit in chapter 94, furniture.
• Almost all the rest sit in chapter 44, articles of wood: kitchenware and serving boards (4419), other wooden articles (4421), flooring (4418) and plywood (4412).
• Inside chapter 94, they split almost evenly between 9403.60, other wooden furniture, and 9401.69, seats with wooden frames.
• Some outdoor sets with an aluminium frame and acacia parts go under 9403.20, metal furniture.

HS code	What it covers	Acacia records, VN to DE
9403.60	Other wooden furniture	1,100+
9401.69	Seats with wooden frames	1,100+
4419.90	Wooden tableware and kitchenware	340+
9403.91	Parts of furniture, of wood	220+
4421.99	Other articles of wood	210+
4418.79	Assembled flooring panels	180+

Coreties customs records, August 2025 to July 2026, records whose description mentions acacia.

So a search on 9403.60 alone finds about one acacia record in four. A search on headings 9401 and 9403 plus the keyword “acacia” finds most of the furniture, and adding 4419 and 4421 picks up the exporters who also make wooden homeware. Exporters that show up under several of these codes deserve a close look, because they ship across product lines.

The same rule applies to any product. Search the 4-digit heading, add the keyword in the language of the declaration, and look at which codes your best results also use. Then add those codes to the search.

Step 4: Add the lane, mode and volume

An HS code search on its own returns thousands of names. Narrow it to the shippers you can serve:

• Lane. Origin and destination country, or the ports you serve.
• Mode. Ocean or air, and full container or LCL.
• Volume. TEU or shipments in the last 12 months. Set a floor that fits your desk, for example 20 TEU a year or one shipment a month.
• Recent activity. Drop companies with no shipment in the last three months. Keep the ones that are new on the lane or growing, because they are the most likely to be looking at forwarders.

In Coreties shipper search these are filters on one screen: lane, port, HS code or commodity, volume and recent activity.

Step 5: Check who each company really is

The name on a customs record is not always the company you should call.

• Trading houses and agents. Some exporters buy from factories and resell. Check the website: a factory shows production, a trader shows a catalogue of brands.
• Forwarders and 3PLs. Logistics companies sometimes appear as shipper or consignee. Remove them from the list.
• Group companies. One manufacturer can export under two or three legal names. Merge them so you contact the group once.
• Who books the freight. On FOB terms the buyer’s forwarder usually books the main leg, so the exporter may not choose. On CIF or CFR the exporter does. See how to find decision makers for how the Incoterm changes who you contact.

Step 6: Reach out with the lane in hand

Find the person who books the freight: usually a logistics, shipping, supply chain or export manager at the exporter, or the import or purchasing manager at the buyer. How to find decision makers covers which side to contact. Mention its cargo and lane in the first line, and keep the message short:

Hi [Name], I saw [Company] ships acacia garden furniture from Ho Chi Minh City to Hamburg most months. We run weekly FCL and LCL on that lane and handle [what you are good at, for example the German customs side and delivery to retail DCs]. Would it help to compare a quote on your next booking?

Supply Chain Analysis gives you a sourced reason to reach out to each company, and outreach finds the right logistics contact with a verified email and drafts the message for your approval.

Tools to find shippers by HS code

• Free. UN Comtrade and national statistics offices give lane totals by HS code without company names. ImportYeti offers a free search of US bills of lading, US imports only.
• Trade data platforms. ImportGenius, Panjiva, Descartes Datamyne, Tendata and Volza sell searchable bill of lading and customs records by HS code, country and company.
• Lead tools for forwarders. Coreties searches US bills of lading and customs declarations from origin countries by lane, HS code and volume, shows which shippers are new or growing, and finds the contact. More in the lead generation software guide.

Common mistakes

• Searching an 8- or 10-digit national code across several countries. Only the first six digits match.
• Searching one exact code. As the acacia example shows, the same goods sit under several codes.
• Using US data for an HS search without searching descriptions, when most US records carry no code.
• Keeping companies with one shipment a year. They rarely justify a new forwarder.
• Calling the exporter when the buyer controls the freight.

Frequently asked questions

Can I find shippers by HS code for free?

Partly. ImportYeti lets you search US import bills of lading for free, and UN Comtrade gives country totals by HS code without company names. Customs records from other countries and filters for lane and volume usually come with a paid tool.

Should I search by 4-digit or 6-digit HS code?

Start with the 4-digit heading, then narrow to 6 digits if the list is too long. The 6-digit code is the same in every country, so it is the most precise code you can use across a lane.

Why does the same product show up under different HS codes?

Classification depends on material, use and how the goods are presented, and exporters make different choices. A table with a metal frame and a wooden top can go under wooden or metal furniture. Search the heading with a keyword to catch both.

Can I find exporters and importers by HS code?

Yes, if the records name both. Customs declarations from countries such as Vietnam and India name the exporter and the buyer abroad. US import bills of lading name the importer and, on about half of records, the shipper.

How do freight forwarders use HS codes to find shippers?

They pick the cargo they handle well, search that HS heading on the lanes they serve, filter by volume and recent activity, and reach out to the companies that ship it regularly. See how to find shippers for the other ways.

Want to see the shippers on your own lane? Get a free market study for one of your lanes, or book a demo.