Market evolution: Safety razor blades (CN 821220) — 2015–2025
Introduction
This report examines the evolution of EU trade in safety razor blades of base metal (Combined Nomenclature code 821220), including razor blade blanks in strips, over the period 2015–2025. The EU is a major global producer and net exporter of this product, with a long-standing industrial base centred primarily in Poland, Germany, and Czechia. Over the decade under review, the market has undergone significant structural shifts: export volumes have fallen sharply in weight terms while the number of individual blade items exported has surged, trade relationships have been redrawn by geopolitical events such as Brexit and the Russia–Ukraine conflict, and the EU's domestic production base has shown notable resilience. This report organises its findings around three central themes: the paradoxical divergence between physical and unit-based trade metrics, the geographic realignment of the EU's key trading partners, and the question of strategic autonomy in production and supply.
1. Tonnage Down, Items Up: The Paradox of a Shifting Product Mix
One of the most striking features of EU razor blade trade over 2015–2025 is the sharp divergence between weight-based and item-based trade metrics. While the total weight of EU extra-EU exports collapsed, the number of individual blade items exported actually surged. This points to a fundamental transformation in the product mix, likely driven by lighter blade designs, thinner steel, and a shift towards higher-volume, lower-weight cartridge systems.
1.1 Export value and weight declined, but supplementary quantities surged
EU extra-EU exports of CN 821220 fell from €512.4 million in 2015 to €344.0 million in 2025 (−32.9%). The decline in net mass was far steeper: from 20,101 tonnes to 7,539 tonnes (−62.5%). Yet, measured in the supplementary unit of thousand pieces, exports rose from 17,900 thousand items (≈17.9 billion pieces) to 51,945 thousand items (≈51.9 billion pieces), an increase of 191.0%. This divergence suggests that the EU is exporting far more individual blades of substantially lower unit weight.
| Metric | 2015 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Export value (EUR) | 512,419,569 | 343,951,350 | −32.9% |
| Export quantity (tonnes) | 20,101 | 7,539 | −62.5% |
| Export supplementary qty (1 000 p/st) | 17,853,072 | 51,944,627 | +191.0% |
| Export unit price (EUR/t) | 25,492 | 45,618 | +78.9% |
| Export supp. price (EUR/1 000 p/st) | 28.70 | 6.62 | −76.9% |
1.2 A similar pattern appears on the import side
The same divergence is visible in imports. EU import value remained essentially flat (€107.4 million to €108.0 million, +0.5%), while the number of items imported quadrupled from 6,591 thousand items to 34,344 thousand items (+348.5%). The weight-based import quantity fluctuated, ending at 7,454 tonnes, up 22.6% from 2015. The supplementary unit price collapsed from €14.03 to €3.14 per thousand items (−77.6%), mirroring the export-side trend and confirming that the per-item value of traded blades has fallen dramatically over the decade.
| Metric | 2015 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Import value (EUR) | 107,423,172 | 108,012,797 | +0.5% |
| Import quantity (tonnes) | 6,079 | 7,454 | +22.6% |
| Import supplementary qty (1 000 p/st) | 6,591,085 | 34,344,303 | +348.5% |
| Import unit price (EUR/t) | 17,669 | 14,490 | −18.0% |
| Import supp. price (EUR/1 000 p/st) | 14.03 | 3.14 | −77.6% |
The simultaneous increase in item counts and fall in unit prices on both sides suggests a structural shift: global production of razor blades has moved towards thinner, lighter designs, and competition — particularly from Asian suppliers — has exerted strong downward pressure on per-item pricing.
1.3 The trade balance narrowed but the EU remains a robust net exporter
The EU's trade surplus in safety razor blades fell from €405.0 million in 2015 to €235.9 million in 2025 (−41.7%). Despite this narrowing, the EU's net export position remains substantial. The net import reliance indicator — which is consistently negative, confirming net-exporter status — moved from −3.3% to −46.2%, indicating that the EU's net export position has deepened relative to apparent consumption. This apparent paradox (narrowing absolute surplus but deepening relative surplus) is explained by domestic production growth outpacing the trade balance decline, which we discuss in Section 3.
2. Geopolitical Realignments Reshape Trade Geography
The geographic composition of the EU's razor blade trade has been profoundly reshaped over the decade. Three forces stand out: the collapse of exports to Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the erosion of UK trade flows after Brexit, and the growing role of Asian suppliers on the import side.
2.1 Russia: from the EU's largest export market to a fraction of its former self
In 2015, the Russian Federation was the EU's single largest extra-EU export destination for safety razor blades, absorbing €75.1 million in value. By 2025, this had fallen to just €23.1 million (−69.3%). The steepest decline occurred after 2022, as EU sanctions and voluntary corporate withdrawals drastically curtailed exports. The coefficient of variation for exports to Russia stands at 0.62, reflecting high instability in recent years.
2.2 The United Kingdom: Brexit-driven divergence in both directions
The UK was the EU's second-largest export market in 2015 (€70.1 million) and also a significant source of imports (€19.5 million). By 2025, exports to the UK had halved to €35.0 million (−50.0%), while imports from the UK collapsed even more steeply to €6.4 million (−67.1%). Brexit introduced customs frictions, rules-of-origin requirements, and regulatory divergence that appear to have depressed trade in both directions. A major price shock in exports to the UK was detected in 2021 (abnormality score 41.9, price shift +102.9%), coinciding with the first year of post-Brexit trade and likely reflecting new customs costs being passed through to prices.
| Export partner | 2015 (EUR) | 2025 (EUR) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 70,136,498 | 35,045,600 | −50.0% |
| Switzerland | 28,520,824 | 16,479,203 | −42.2% |
| United States | 30,352,610 | 44,263,617 | +45.8% |
| China | 40,509,253 | 31,036,173 | −23.4% |
| Russian Federation | 75,148,301 | 23,058,713 | −69.3% |
| Nigeria | 10,471,543 | 7,437,644 | −29.0% |
| Mexico | 15,350,352 | 14,860,373 | −3.2% |
2.3 Asian suppliers gain ground on the import side
While the United States remained the EU's single largest source of extra-EU imports throughout the decade (€35.2 million to €32.7 million, a modest −7.0%), Asian suppliers have grown markedly. South Korean imports more than doubled from €9.8 million to €23.5 million (+138.9%), while Chinese imports rose from €19.9 million to €26.3 million (+31.9%). Turkish imports surged from €1.0 million to €3.3 million (+238.7%), and Vietnamese imports, while volatile, grew from €0.2 million to €0.7 million (+321.7%). This shift towards Asian sourcing has increased import-side concentration: the HHI for imports by value rose from 1,947 to 2,122 (+9.0%), while the export-side HHI declined from 684 to 625 (−8.6%), indicating that export destinations have become slightly more diversified.
| Import partner | 2015 (EUR) | 2025 (EUR) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Korea, Republic of | 9,844,918 | 23,516,798 | +138.9% |
| China | 19,933,863 | 26,297,776 | +31.9% |
| Viet Nam | 167,875 | 707,943 | +321.7% |
| Türkiye | 976,359 | 3,306,595 | +238.7% |
| United Kingdom | 19,473,157 | 6,407,356 | −67.1% |
| Israel | 3,597,115 | 869,483 | −75.8% |
| United States | 35,186,233 | 32,734,757 | −7.0% |
2.4 Notable price shocks highlight supply-chain vulnerabilities
Three significant supply-side shocks were detected over the period. The UK export price shock in 2021 (discussed above) was the largest by abnormality score. An import price shock from Israel was detected in 2022 (abnormality 24.3, shift +498.3%), and a China import price shock occurred in 2023 (abnormality 17.9, shift +207.6%). These events, while affecting partners of varying size, underscore the price volatility that can accompany concentrated sourcing arrangements and geopolitical disruption. Import volatility coefficients were generally higher than for exports, with Vietnam (CV 1.43) and Singapore (CV 1.76) showing the most erratic import flows, while the United States (CV 0.27) was the most stable import source.
3. Production Resilience and the EU's Deepening Strategic Position
Despite the contraction in trade values and the geopolitical disruptions, the EU's domestic production base for safety razor blades has proven remarkably resilient and even expanded. This has strengthened the EU's net-exporter position and reshaped the internal geography of production.
3.1 EU production grew in both volume and value
According to PRODCOM data, EU production of safety razor blades increased from approximately 3.6 billion items in 2015 to 4.0 billion items in 2025 (+11.1%). More strikingly, production value rose from €630 million to €900 million (+42.9%), implying a significant increase in the average value per item produced. This suggests that EU manufacturers have moved up the value chain, producing more premium or technologically sophisticated blades — a pattern consistent with the global trend towards multi-blade cartridge systems and precision-engineered shaving products.
| Production metric | 2015 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume (p/st) | 3,600,000,000 | 4,000,000,000 | +11.1% |
| Value (EUR) | 630,000,000 | 900,000,000 | +42.9% |
3.2 Czechia and Poland anchor the EU's export specialisation
The EU's production and export capacity for razor blades is highly concentrated among a small number of Member States. Using the Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) indicator for 2025, Czechia (RSCA 0.633, RCA 4.45) and Poland (RSCA 0.518, RCA 3.15) are by far the most specialised EU producers, with product-level export shares of 21.4% and 20.9% respectively — far above their overall shares in total EU exports (4.8% and 6.6%). Germany, while the largest absolute exporter in some years, shows more moderate specialisation (RSCA 0.180, RCA 1.44), reflecting its broader industrial base.
| Member State | RSCA (2025) | RCA (2025) | Product export share | Total export share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czechia | 0.633 | 4.448 | 21.4% | 4.8% |
| Poland | 0.518 | 3.146 | 20.9% | 6.6% |
| Germany | 0.180 | 1.438 | 30.5% | 21.2% |
| Denmark | 0.051 | 1.107 | 1.9% | 1.7% |
| Netherlands | −0.081 | 0.850 | 12.3% | 14.5% |
3.3 Poland dominates exports but intra-EU shifts are underway
Poland has been the EU's dominant exporter of safety razor blades to non-EU countries throughout the period, with exports ranging from €181.3 million to €330.1 million. However, Polish exports fell 39.1% from 2015 to 2025. Meanwhile, Germany's extra-EU exports rose from €82.0 million to €100.3 million (+22.3%), and Czechia's exports grew from €16.3 million to €20.3 million (+25.1%). The most dramatic collapse occurred in Belgium, whose exports plunged from €66.0 million to just €4.4 million (−93.4%), and Sweden (from €23.8 million to €3.6 million, −84.8%). On the import side within the EU, Germany's role as an import gateway collapsed (imports fell from €28.3 million to €2.4 million, −91.5%), while Czechia's imports surged by 162.0%, suggesting a shift in logistics and distribution patterns.
| EU exporter | 2015 (EUR) | 2025 (EUR) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 297,911,674 | 181,344,234 | −39.1% |
| Germany | 81,997,690 | 100,286,601 | +22.3% |
| Czechia | 16,256,677 | 20,342,489 | +25.1% |
| Belgium | 65,976,302 | 4,357,270 | −93.4% |
| Sweden | 23,755,314 | 3,613,492 | −84.8% |
| France | 5,369,302 | 9,229,535 | +71.9% |
| Netherlands | 8,053,292 | 2,759,218 | −65.7% |
3.4 Trade intensity is declining, signalling a more self-sufficient market
The trade intensity of the EU's razor blade sector — defined as the ratio of extra-EU trade (imports + exports) to domestic production — fell from 64.1% in 2015 to 50.2% in 2025 (−21.6%). The export propensity similarly declined from 48.0% to 44.0% (−8.2%). In other words, while the EU remains heavily engaged in international trade for this product, a growing share of its output is being absorbed within the single market or is being produced by companies whose products replace imports. This trend, combined with the deepening net-export position, suggests that the EU's strategic autonomy in safety razor blade production has actually strengthened over the decade, even as individual trade flows have been disrupted.
Conclusion
The EU safety razor blade market (CN 821220) has undergone a complex transformation between 2015 and 2025. The headline figures — a 33% decline in export value and a 63% collapse in export tonnage — might suggest a sector in retreat. In reality, the picture is more nuanced. The number of individual blade items exported has nearly tripled, reflecting a fundamental shift towards lighter, thinner products and a redefinition of what constitutes a "unit" of trade. EU production has grown robustly in value terms, rising from €630 million to €900 million, and the EU's net-exporter position has deepened considerably. At the same time, the geographic landscape has been redrawn: Russia has largely disappeared as an export destination, the UK's role has diminished post-Brexit, and Asian suppliers — particularly South Korea and China — have gained ground on the import side. The sector's concentration has shifted from Belgium and Sweden towards Poland, Czechia, and Germany, consolidating production in Central Europe. Looking forward, the combination of growing Asian competition on the import side, ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, and the EU's demonstrated production resilience will continue to shape this market. The data suggests that while the EU's razor blade sector is well-positioned in terms of strategic autonomy, maintaining competitiveness in an increasingly price-pressured, low-margin item market will remain a key challenge.