Unprecedented timber shortage is coming around the world. And the price of traditional wooden pallet is also increasing recently across the Europe. But what we should do for pallet manufacturer?

Pallet-dependent businesses need a measured response to the extreme timber shortages and price rises hitting the UK. A rapid increase in enquiries for plastic pallets in recent weeks could be attributed to low timber supplies. It has been referred to by the Timber Packaging and Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) as having reached “an unprecedented level”.

Timber shortage is more and more severe.

It is the second time in four years a severe shortage of timber has impacted those using wooden pallets. Prices for pallet timber have risen consecutively for more than a year and a half and those hikes are being felt by the customer. This is not the scene of a sustainable or stable market.

What We Should Do?

The durability of plastic pallets – many of which are made from recycled material – makes them the ultimate choice to combat this unsteady scenario. Since 2014, timber price rises, thousands upon thousands of wooden pallets would have been repaired, reused and retired. In that time, thousands upon thousands of multi-use plastic pallets have stayed in circulation, providing excellent return on investment. Throughout that period, the cost of recycled plastic pallets has remained consistent.

Plastic pallet is helpful.

When plastic pallets reach the end of their life, they can be reground. They then begin their time again as a new pallet, offering many more years of service as a durable, hygienic and cost-effective solution. With the increasing requirements for production conditions, storage conditions, process control, and quality management, plastic pallets began to emerge, and soon occupied the market share. It is that the insurmountable limitations of wooden pallets in sanitary conditions and standardized production, which limit the usage of wooden pallets.

Plastic pallets have been widely used in machinery, electronics, food, medicine, clothing and other industries. Compared with wooden pallets, plastic pallets are good integrity, hygienic and clean, easy to be washed and disinfected. Meantime, plastic pallets also have the characteristics of light weight, no nails, acid and alkali resistance, and mildew resistance, etc. besides, their service life is longer 5-7 times than wooden pallets’. In addition, plastic pallets can prevent the loss of thousands of acres of forest each year and protect the forest.

High demand for timber globally and low Baltic timber supply due to unseasonable weather conditions are just two of the reasons behind the current shortage. So plastic pallets are the better choice for replacing wooden pallet.

PalletMach is the leading supplier of plastic pallet machine with more than 15 years’ production experience. If you want to build your own plastic pallet, please email us [email protected].