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Fears of pallet shortage in Germany due to EU sanctions against Russia

EU sanctions against Russia could result in the closure of some pallet factories in Germany within as little as a fortnight, the Federal Association of Wooden Packaging, Pallets and Export Packaging (HPE) warned yesterday. The sector is facing a significant problem sourcing the nails used to make pallets.

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As the association has found out, most companies in the industry have sourced  their nails from suppliers in Eastern Europe, such as Poland.

“We were surprised to learn that these suppliers rely almost entirely on steel from Russia – we didn’t know that,” HPE board member Joachim Hasdenteufel told Verkehrrundschau.

90% of the so-called wire steel, from which the nails used for pallets are made, originates from Russia, therefore both the suppliers and the factories need to look for different sources.

According to the association, there are no short-term alternatives to fix the shortage for two reasons. Firstly, the nails cannot be replaced by different ones, as the machines in the factories can handle only this kind of nail.

Secondly, sourcing steel from Asia is definitely an option, but not a short-term one, as it would take 6-8 months to organise the supply. In the meantime, some factories are set to out of nails in the very near future, according to Hasdenteufel.

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