The Russian invasion of Ukraine has proven disastrous for the thousands of Ukrainians who have lost their lives and the millions who have lost their homes, but the consequences of the war are being felt well beyond the country\u2019s borders and are rattling Europe\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
The European Pallet Association (EPAL) and the European Federation of Wooden Pallet & Packaging Manufacturers (FEFPEB) have both warned that wooden pallets - indispensable handling and storage products used to transport goods and dispatch them across warehouses or supermarkets - may soon become harder to find in Europe due to the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because Europe, in normal times, massively imports its wooden pallets and the materials to make them from three countries: Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. The war in Ukraine, combined with retaliatory Western sanctions against Russia and its ally Belarus, effectively eliminated that entire source of supply.<\/p>\n
The result, for companies further down the line, is a sudden rise in pallet prices and the risk of running out of a product that\u2019s often overlooked yet essential to supply chains, as it allows businesses to stack goods and transport them efficiently with reduced loading time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a phrase: \u2018Pallets move the world,\u2019 and it's true,\u201d Marshall White, a Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech and a leading expert in wooden pallets said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout pallets, our supply chains would be grinding to a halt, shipping one box at a time, which is the way we did it before World War One, when the pallet started to be introduced in the supply chains,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has proven disastrous for the thousands of Ukrainians who have lost their lives and the millions who have lost their homes, but the consequences of the war are being felt well beyond the country\u2019s borders … Continue reading