How wood pallets form the foundation of basic supply and global goods traffic.

In spring 2021, I was busy writing my Bachelor’s thesis. At this time, I thought about helping out at the local supermarket to earn a little pocket money on the side. My main task was to take the delivered goods from the warehouse and place them on the shelves.

During my work, I noticed that all goods were delivered on wooden pallets. That’s why there was a high stack of wooden pallets in a corner of the warehouse, because the goods were always put away and only the wooden pallets remained. On the pallets, all kinds of food and consumer goods were delivered that you can imagine around an ordinary supermarket (yoghurt, pizza, baby food, sparkling water, beer, etc.). However, the wooden pallets are not only needed for this segment, but also for others:

• Pharmaceutical industry that is supplied with the important primary materials
• Medicines and vaccines also need pallets to arrive at medical facilities
• Power stations, wind turbines, telecommunication facilities, television, internet
• Machinery and equipment, components and spare parts from the manufacturer to their final destination etc.

Wooden pallets on a forklift, Source: https://www.hpe.de/presse.html#!/blog/posts/Paletten-und-Holzpackmittel-Die-Blutkorperchen-der-Weltwirtschaft/128

The HPE (Bundesverband Holzpackmittel, Paletten, Exportverpackung e.V. ) predicts that around 119 million pallets were produced in Germany alone in 2021. If the foreign trade statistics are also taken into account, an import surplus of 39 million pallets is found. This results in a total market of around 158 million required pallets in Germany.

• https://www.hpe.de/presse.html#!/blog/posts/Paletten-sind-die-Saule-der-Grundversorgung-und-des-weltweiten-Warenverkehrs-Fast-alle-Produkte-reisen-auf-den-holzernen-Transportmitteln/132
• https://www.hpe.de/presse.html#!/blog/posts/Akuter-Mangel-an-Nageln-aus-russischem-Stahl-Palettenindustrie-befurchtet-Stillstand-von-Produktionen/134

In Germany, pallet manufacturers are currently facing an acute shortage of nails. This means that there is currently a danger that the first companies will hardly be able to meet the demand for pallets and packaging materials. This will ultimately lead to a massive disruption of supply chains in Germany. It is therefore to be hoped that the situation will improve quickly, as otherwise the supply of basic goods and the global traffic of goods cannot be guaranteed.