By Nathan Gerber and J. Kate Bridgeman

This study was performed in order to acquire key market information and data on raw material usage for the wood pallet and container industry in 2016.

Owing to the volume of new and recovered wood used by the pallet industry, the tracking of historical wood usage and pallet production is important to gauge the current state of the industry.

This study provides the wood pallet and container industry with current information regarding trends in new and used wood pallet production, wood volumes, heat treatment, and byproduct production. The survey was sent to over 2,500 companies that either manufacture or wholesale wooden pallets and containers.

Historical trends in the wood pallet market were also analyzed using the results of previous pallet surveys from 1991 to 2016 from both Virginia Tech and the U.S. Forest Service research studies.

Companies in the industry can learn from this data and the historical trends studied and can adopt new business strategies that take advantage of the current developments in the industry.

As a whole, the wooden pallet and container industry has shown growth. The industry produced an estimated 508 million new wood pallets in 2016, which is a 22% increase since 2011. Approximately 35% of these were 48” x 40” pallets, which continues to be the dominant standardized pallet size.

Approximately 39% of new wood pallets were custom sizes, which is a significant decrease from the 60% share found in 2011. This indicates that pallet sizes are becoming increasingly standardized across the industry.

Stringer class pallets remained the dominant pallet class with a 76% share of the market, while block pallets and skids accounted for only 21% and 3% of the market, respectively. Approximately 38% of new wood pallets were heat treated.

Furthermore, an estimated 341 million pallets were recovered and sold as recycled/repaired/remanufactured pallets in 2016. The most common size of the recycled or remanufactured pallets was 48” x 40”, accounting for 69% of the recycled market. Ninety-one percent of recycled or remanufactured pallets were stringer class pallets, while block class pallets made up the remaining 9%.

Wood byproduct usage has changed since 2011. The conversion of broken pallets and wood waste to landscape mulch (37.5%) and animal bedding (4.2%) has declined with a proportional increase in other uses (28.3%). Biofuel conversion has remained steady at 30%.

Research funded by the NWPCA’s Pallet Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service.

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