Your recent market report may lead readers to the conclusion that pallet manufacturers are experiencing a considerable upturn in their UK business.
It is worth clarifying that the market report refers to an increase in demand at some sawmills producing timber for pallets, rather than demand at the UK pallet manufacturers themselves. As a result of the worldwide financial crisis, demand for pallets in the UK remains significantly reduced.
In recent months, UK sawmills have dramatically increased their share of the UK pallet and packaging market – estimated from 35% to more than 90% – due to exchange rate movements and the virtual disappearance of supplies from the Baltic region. They are benefiting from import substitution and not from a resurgence in demand for pallets and packaging.
At the Timber Packaging & Pallet Federation (Timcon) we believe the dramatic fall-off in demand may have now stablised; however, it is certainly premature to suggest that pallet production has started to recover.
John Dye
President
Timber Packaging & Pallet Federation (TIMCON)
