Pallets: An Opportunity

There’s a lot of talk about the risks of transmitting the coronavirus through personal contact, but there exists another method of transmitting the virus. According to disease experts, coronavirus can remain viable on a surface for up to a day after an infected person makes contact with it. While a number of structures and surfaces are being subject to regular disinfection, the pallets on which the vast majority of consumer goods – including the disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer being used to treat surfaces – are seldom subject to decontamination, and thus are inadvertently potential sources of infection.

This is a matter of concern, given the key role China plays in the global trade market – everyday, millions of pallets enter and leave Chinese ports and warehouses with goods and materials that are shipped around the world. Given this volume of pallet movement, it is not unlikely that pallets can be a source of potential infection.

Whether a real threat exists – the COVID-19 virus only lasts on smooth surfaces for anywhere from a few hours to several days and ocean shipments from China to the US take a month or more – the perceived fear can be enough to drive people to action. While pallets can be disinfected or sterilized, it is more likely that pallets thought to be contaminated will simply be scrapped and removed from pallet stocks. This will have the potential to boost demand for new pallets, as enough pallets could eventually be removed from trade network that pallet stocks erode. Indeed, if government agencies – such as those in China or the European Union – mandate the removal or disinfection of pallets felt to be contaminated, millions of new pallets will be needed to replenish global stocks.

For more information, see The Freedonia Group’s coverage of the Pallets industry.