Caprolactam: Movement

Heated tanks or bags of flakes from China and Russia

What this tab covers How it moves between countries: share of output traded, physical form and transport, the largest exporters and importers, main routes, India's trade, and handling rules in transit.

Trade in 2024 UN Comtrade, HS 293371

World exports $1.09 bn 25 reporting exporters · about 636k t Largest exporter Belgium 44.6% of world exports Largest importer Germany 37.9% of world imports India imports $86.1 m
exports $309k #4 importer · #11 exporter

Where it is exported from and imported to, 2024

Chart: World map of the largest trade flows

Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, HS 293371: shares of reported world exports and imports by value. Country-to-country route lines are not available for this commodity yet. Hover a circle for values.

HS 293371: largest exporters

Country	Share	Value (US$)	Tonnes
Belgium	44.6%	$484.4 m	269k
China	27.3%	$296.9 m	200k
Netherlands	9.4%	$102.0 m	53k
United States	4.4%	$47.3 m	25k
Thailand	4.3%	$47.2 m	28k
Japan	3.6%	$39.5 m	26k
Czechia	3%	$32.4 m	17k
Spain	2.2%	$23.8 m	11k

HS 293371: largest importers

Country	Share	Value (US$)	Tonnes
Germany	37.9%	$488.5 m	267k
China	17.6%	$227.2 m	147k
Italy	12.9%	$165.8 m	88k
India	6.7%	$86.1 m	50k
Slovenia	3.9%	$50.1 m	24k
Switzerland	3.7%	$47.8 m	25k
Canada	2.5%	$32.5 m	15k
South Korea	2.1%	$27.2 m	–

UN Comtrade 2024, reported by each country (exports by exporters, imports by importers), all partners. Some countries (for example Russia and Iran) do not report, so their shares are missing. HS codes can be broader than the tile: check the code before reading a share as the whole market.

How it moves

Measure	Figure
Share traded	about 15-20% of output crosses borders (indicative)
How it moves	Molten (melting point about 69 C) in heated ISO tanks or tankers, or as solid flakes in bags. Often made next to nylon 6 polymerisation.
Routes and chokepoints	China and Russia to India, Turkey and Southeast Asia; Thailand to South Asia.
India	Imports rose sharply while domestic demand fell, with landed prices below GSFC's cost (Indian Chemical News, Oct 2026). HS 293371 volumes were not reached.
Handling in transit	Not regulated as dangerous goods for transport (indicative); molten product requires heated containers.