Timber packaging and pallets are experiencing their first significant price rises for more than 10 years, the industry has warned.

The Timber Packaging and Pallet Confederation (TIMCON) blames the increases, averaging about 7-8%, on higher raw material costs and bigger demand for wood from other timber consuming sectors, such as construction and fencing. Timcon says adverse weather conditions and a shortage of softwood logs in the Baltic states have also affected timber supply.

Timcon president Gill Covey said fluctuations in material costs had been absorbed by the industry in the recent past, due to the need to maintain highly competitive pricing.

He said: “As timber accounts for around 70% of the selling price of pallets and packing cases, the current conditions of material cost and availability means that this approach cannot be sustained any longer and manufacturers across the board will, inevitably, need to increase their prices.”

&#8220As timber accounts for around 70% of the selling price of pallets and packing cases, the current conditions of material cost and availability mean manufacturers will need to increase their prices.
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Timcon president Gill Covey

Timcon says the rises per unit are “modest”, although it cannot rule out further incremental increases in the future.

Timcon vice-president John Dye said it was vital that material quality, the structural properties of wood packaging and specifications were not compromised by the use of lesser quality timbers.

  • The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply‘s manufacturing reports in September and October identified wood pallets as items specified by buyers as being “up in price”.