According to feedback from the industry, the Latvian timber sector’s economic problems have given a boost to UK pallet output, and also provided an opportunity for sawmills to start pallet wood production to avoid mothballing or working a reduced schedule.

“Pallets for us are manic due to the Latvian and eastern European production being next to non-existent,” said one large pallet producer. “Our stock levels are

minimal, and as we enter the second quarter our order books are full. We have reached 100% pallet capacity.” He said that manufacturing costs had risen and his company had raised prices by 3-5%, even though this would be tough on cash-strapped businesses.

The pallet market, known to be sensitive, appears to be stable, if not still generally depressed.

“The only change really seems to be that there is less supply, creating a stronger demand for pallets,” said another contact. “But there is still concern about pricing and the availability of certain sizes – production of some sizes has dropped 5-10%.”

The pallet and packaging sector will be affected by the publication of revised ISPM 15 text by the Food and Agricultural Organisation’s International Plant Protection Convention Secretariat in a few weeks’ time.

A Forestry Commission spokesperson outlined several changes in the current draft of the text which he is sure will be included in the final version of the new text. These changes include: all wood packaging should be debarked, but with defined tolerances for residual bark being permitted; the format of the ISPM 15 mark will be amended, and it will now be required for a simple border to encase the IPPC logo, the ISO two-digit country code, manufacturer and treatment codes. There will also be greater clarification on exempted products such as wine and spirit barrels.

A further amendment, which is sure to cause friction within the sector, is the provision to enable repairs to be carried out without retreatment as long as each component used in the repair is individually marked while leaving the original mark intact.

The revised text will be published on www.ippc.int.