Home / Insights / Pallet market note, October 2026
Pallet market note
Pallet market note, October 2026: timber supply, pooling and the export rules, with the source on every number.
A short, sourced note on what is moving the Australian pallet market this quarter, written for the people who buy, sell and ship on pallets in NSW. Hardwood is still short, softwood packaging grade is taking the load, imports are a fifth larger than before Victoria's native forests closed, the pool operators are spending to keep up with returns, and the stink bug season is open until April. What each one means for a dock is at the end.
Or call Jayden on 0494 820 639, 7am to 5pm weekdays.
Quick answer
What is the pallet market doing in October 2026?
Hardwood pallets are being replaced more slowly than they wear out since Victoria's native forests closed, so softwood packaging grade grew 12.6 per cent in 2025 to 621,034 cubic metres and imports of finished pallets run about 50 per cent above the pre-closure level, China the largest supplier (FWPA, April 2026). Brambles bought 1.3 million new pallets in one quarter to keep its pool full (FY26 result, August 2026). The stink bug season runs 1 September 2026 to 30 April 2027 and ISPM 15 is unchanged. Sound used hardwood is the supply this year; sort it and sell it.
The numbers
What moved in the pallet market this year?
| Measure | Figure | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawn softwood sold as packaging grade in Australia | 621,034 cubic metres, up 12.6% on the year before | Year to December 2025 | FWPA, 23 April 2026 |
| Imports of timber pallets and timber packaging | AUD 18.5 million FOB, up 3.7% on the year and about 50% above the level before Victoria's native forest closures; China 7.5 million (up 14.7%), Bahrain 4.7 million, New Zealand 2.7 million (up 27%) | Year to December 2025 | FWPA, 23 April 2026 |
| Hardwood pallet supply before the closures | Victoria's native forests supplied up to 1 million of the roughly 1.6 million new hardwood pallets Australia needed each year | To 2023 | FWPA, 21 June 2023 |
| Brambles (CHEP) group result | Revenue USD 7,042.9 million, up 2% at constant currency; 1.3 million new pallets bought in the June quarter to meet demand while repair capacity in the US fell short; FY27 guidance revenue growth 2% to 4% | Year to 30 June 2026, reported 20 August 2026 | Rivkin summary of the FY26 result and the ASX release |
| Private house approvals | 10,537 in May 2026, up 2.8% and the highest month since September 2021; the fourth month in a row above 10,000 | May 2026 | FWPA, 21 July 2026 |
| Dwelling commencements | 48,012 in the March 2026 quarter, down 11.2% on the December quarter | March quarter 2026 | FWPA, 21 July 2026 |
| Brown marmorated stink bug season | Measures apply to target goods manufactured in or shipped from target risk countries between 1 September 2026 and 30 April 2027; ethyl formate approved as an onshore treatment; the Safeguarding Arrangement Scheme discontinued; Japan, South Korea, China and the United Kingdom listed as emerging risk countries with more random inspections | 2026-27 season, published 24 August 2026 | FreshPlaza on the DAFF update |
| ISPM 15 for export timber packaging | Unchanged: heat treatment to 56 degrees Celsius at the core for 30 minutes, or an approved fumigation, and the IPPC mark on the pallet | Current | DAFF, ISPM 15 |
Every figure above is quoted from the source linked beside it, in the units the source used. Where a source gives value and not volume (imports), the note says so. FWPA is Forest and Wood Products Australia, the industry's statistics body; its import figures are free on board values, so they exclude freight and duty.
Reading it
What is the pallet market doing?
Three things are happening at once. Hardwood pallets, the ones that take racking and bricks, are being replaced more slowly than they wear out because the forests that supplied most of the timber are closed. Softwood packaging grade has grown 12.6% in a year to take the load, and the same softwood mills are also selling into a housing market where house approvals are at a four and a half year high, so packaging grade competes with framing for the log. And imports of finished pallets are running about half as high again as they did before the closures, with China the largest supplier and growing fastest.
On the pooling side, Brambles' year shows what a pool costs to keep full: 1.3 million new pallets bought in one quarter when repair capacity fell behind returns, and a repair drag that is expected to run into the first half of FY27. The published guidance is for revenue growth of 2% to 4%, which in a pooled model is mostly price and mix rather than volume. The Australian figures are not broken out in the result, so this note does not claim a local hire rate; hire against buying explains why no pooled operator publishes one.
The export side has not changed for the pallet itself: ISPM 15 heat treatment and the stamp. What has changed is the stink bug season around the container. Goods from target risk countries shipped between 1 September and 30 April need treatment or inspection, ethyl formate can now be done onshore, and four more countries are on the emerging risk list, which means more random inspections of containers from them. That is an importer's problem more than an exporter's, but it is the reason an inbound container can sit at the wharf for a week in October, and the pallets in it with it.
What it means
What does this mean for a NSW business that buys, sells or ships on pallets?
- A sound used hardwood pallet is worth more than it was. With fewer new hardwood pallets coming in, the recovered one is the supply. Sort the inbound stack, keep the sound standard 1165s out of the bin, and sell them: who buys used pallets and what they pay.
- Buy the grade for the job, not the grade on the last invoice. B grade for general warehousing, A grade or new hardwood where the pallet goes into racking or under heavy product, one way or C grade for a shipment that stays with the customer: the grades explained.
- Expect the from-price of new hardwood to move before the price of recycled stock does. Our published from-prices are on what pallets cost and a written quote replaces them; this note does not forecast prices.
- If the product goes export, specify the pallet before the container is booked: heat treated and stamped, or plastic, and strapped for the container: export pallets.
- If you import from a target risk country, the pallets under the goods may be held with the container between September and April. Count that week into the stock plan and do not promise those pallets to anyone: peak season planning.
- Pooled pallets on your site are somebody's daily hire. Blue and red in their own stack, the collection booked: CHEP and Loscam pallets you did not order.
Using the figures
How should I quote these figures?
- Name the source and the period beside each number, as the table does; FWPA's packaging figures are a calendar year, Brambles' are a June financial year, and the stink bug season is a date range
- Keep the unit: cubic metres for sawn timber, FOB dollars for imports, pallets for the Brambles purchase
- Expect revision: FWPA updates its series monthly and ABS revises dwelling data; a figure quoted here may move in the next release
- This note is updated monthly; the date at the foot of the page is the date it was last checked against the sources
The stack behind the dock
Send a photo and a count and the figure is on the screen.
Sound standard pallets are the supply this year. Four questions, the type, the condition, the count and the postcode, and the written offer follows the same business day when it arrives before 2pm.
Questions about the pallet market
Is there a pallet shortage in Australia in 2026?
Not a general one, but hardwood pallets are being replaced more slowly than they wear out since Victoria's native forests closed, so sound used hardwood is in demand and softwood packaging grade has grown 12.6% in a year to fill the gap (FWPA, April 2026).
Are pallet prices going up?
This note does not forecast prices. The supply facts point one way: less new hardwood, more softwood and more imports. Our published from-prices are on the prices page and a written quote replaces them.
Where do Australia's imported pallets come from?
China is the largest supplier at AUD 7.5 million FOB in 2025, then Bahrain at 4.7 million and New Zealand at 2.7 million; the total was 18.5 million, about 50% above the level before the Victorian closures (FWPA).
What is the stink bug season and does it affect pallets?
Australia applies brown marmorated stink bug measures to target goods from target risk countries shipped between 1 September 2026 and 30 April 2027. The rule is about the goods and the container, not the pallet, but a container held for treatment holds its pallets with it.
Has ISPM 15 changed?
No. Export timber packaging still needs heat treatment to 56 degrees Celsius at the core for 30 minutes, or an approved fumigation, and the IPPC mark. Plastic pallets need neither.
Prefer to talk? Call Jayden on 0494 820 639. Checked against the sources on 13 October 2026. Updated monthly. The pallets themselves: pallet supply and pallet collection.
Related questions
- How do I get rid of old pallets in Sydney?
- When does a standing pallet order beat ordering as you go?
- What results can 360 show, and how were they measured?
- How many pallets fit on a truck?
Page updated 16 October 2026. Facts on this page are kept in step with the facts page; terms are explained in the glossary; the suburbs we stop at are on the areas page. Written by the team at 360 Operations Group, Prestons NSW; follow 360 on LinkedIn.