Plastic Pallet Industry Predictions Forecast 2025
09 Jul 2018
The market in plastic pallets is expected to grow by 7.2% during the period of 2016-2024. According to a report released by Credence Research, plastic pallet industry predictions say the market will be worth a total of $17.5 billion by the end of 2024.
This robust growth will be a result of various industries such as food, chemical, medical and manufacturing switching to plastic pallets in preference to traditional wooden ones.
Why Plastic Pallets?
Durability, a higher resistance to damage and the fact that they are normally between 30% and 40% lighter than their wooden rivals are some of the reasons for these positive plastic pallet industry predictions.
Lighter weights also lead to reduced shipment costs of about 45%. In addition, the use of plastic pallets can also cut down on floor space costs, labour and sanitisation. Less product breakage as a result of pallet damage is also an attractive pull, as is a reduction in repacking costs along with a disposal system that is problem-free and much more user-friendly than its wooden pallet equivalent.
New technologies, including Radio-Frequency Identification can be linked to plastic pallets to improve the conditions of track and trace of items across the supply chain. They are another reason for the increased uptake in plastic pallet usage and the positive plastic pallet industry predictions.
What Are Pallets?
A pallet is a flat structure that supports goods when they are being transported by forklift, a crane or some other jacking device. Goods that are transported by shipping containers are often placed on a pallet which is then secured with shrink wrap.
Since their creation in the twentieth century, pallets have become the preferred mode of transportation of goods, supplanting previous forms such as the wooden barrel and wooden box. Today, while the wooden pallet is still popular, it is slowly losing out to the plastic pallet as many industries start to recognise their superior qualities.
Today the two main types of plastic pallet include the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP), with the former making up 52.13% of overall global sales.
Popularity by Industry and Geography
By industry the food sector is the most significant to date and is expected to continue its dominance up to 2024. The reason is due to the improved sanitation of plastic pallets as well as an increasing global trade in packaged food products.
In 2016 the Asia Pacific was the most important market for plastic pallets and is expected to continue its dominance up until 2024 with very strong plastic pallet industry predictions. The reason behind the region’s use of plastic pallets is China’s continued industrial development, which drives up the plastic pallet industry predictions. North America came in second according to sales volume share.