The trade magazine for the packaging industry
The trade magazine for the packaging industry
The war in Ukraine and the EU's sanctions against Russia and Belarus will have a major impact on the European pallet market in the long term. This was announced by the European Pallet Association e. V. (EPAL). Almost no packaging and pallet wood is currently exported from Ukraine to Europe.
EPAL says it supports the EU sanctions in the hope that these will help to bring the war, the violence and the displacement of people to a swift end. The company stands by the people in Ukraine, it says. EPAL receives regular information from its licence holders in Ukraine about the need for help and will actively support the people in Ukraine.
Due to the war in Ukraine, the production of EPAL Euro pallets has been interrupted in many companies there. The Ukraine is also Almost no packaging and pallet wood is currently exported to Europe. Due to the sanctions against Russia and Belarus, the wood imported from there to Europe in recent years will also be lacking in all wood processing sectors. There will also be a lack of lorry drivers from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, meaning that the transport of materials and pallets may also be delayed.
"War and sanctions will also have a negative impact on the production of EPAL Euro pallets in EU countries. However, in this situation, as always with the shortage of wood or the increase in wood prices, the perennial use of exchangeable pallets such as EPAL Euro pallets helps to avoid or reduce pallet bottlenecks. We therefore expect a significant increase in demand for new EPAL Euro pallets."
Robert Holliger, President of EPAL
It is already foreseeable that bottlenecks and delivery delays in the coming months in the supply of users with new EPAL Euro pallets can occur. This will also significantly increase the demand for used and repaired EPAL Euro pallets of all quality classes.
"We recommend that all users of EPAL Euro pallets plan their pallet requirements for the whole of 2022 together with their suppliers now and order EPAL Euro pallets early," says EPAL Vice President Dirk Hoferer. "In this difficult situation, which is expected to exceed the shortages of 2021, the long-standing and trusting supply relationships between the users and suppliers of EPAL Euro pallets will prove their worth." This way, it was already possible to avoid any significant disruption to pallet and transport logistics during the wood shortage in 2021.
The expected bottlenecks in the supply of wood and also the rising prices for energy, transport and raw materials will also have an impact on the prices for pallet wood and EPAL Euro pallets. Here too, EPAL wooden Euro pallets can be used for many years and repaired cost-effectively. Higher purchase prices are offset by reuse, exchange, resale and the possibility of repair. The EPAL licence holders and the service providers of the open EPAL Euro pallet exchange pools support users in this.
SourceEPAL
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