Pallets Projected to Grow 5% Annually through 2017
Pallets Projected to Grow 5% Annually through 2017

CLEVELAND, OH - A new study from The Freedonia Group forecasts the global sales of pallets to increase 5 percent annually through 2017 to 5.1 billion units. This is an uptick from a slow period from 2007 to 2012.

“Pickup in manufacturing activity will spur across-the-board gains, especially in large, mature regional markets such as North America and Western Europe,” said Zoe Biller, analyst for Freedonia Group.

Freedonia Group projects pallet demand to grow 6.8 percent per year in value terms and reach $51.6 billion in 2017. The growth in value volume will be bolstered by increased rates in unit sales along with a shift in the product mix toward higher-priced plastic pallets. The amount of pallets utilized will grow at a 4.6 percent yearly rate through 2017 to 9.9 billion.

Stock gains will be powered by a stronger global economy making necessary additional pallets to handle increased shipping requirements in addition to developing markets using pallets more.

Demand for plastic pallets will mature the fastest of any product type in most national markets through 2017. Plastic pallets can be easily cleaned, lending themselves to products where contamination must be minimized. They also last for many years and are resistant to damage during normal use. However, because of their low cost, wood pallets will continue to dominate product sales in most areas, representing more than nine-tenths of 2017 global unit demand.

WORLD PALLET DEMAND

(million units)

 

% Annual Growth

Item

2007

2012

2017

2007-

2012

2012-

2017

 


 


 


 


 


 


Pallet Demand

3690

3980

5070

1.5

5.0

North America

1356

1290

1540

-1.0

3.6

Western Europe

1100

1000

1150

-1.9

2.8

Asia/Pacific

724

1125

1660

9.2

8.1

Central & South America

134

149

192

2.1

5.2

Eastern Europe

248

261

326

1.0

4.5

Africa/Mideast

128

155

202

3.9

5.4

 


 


 


 


 


 


© 2014 by The Freedonia Group, Inc.

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