An Economic Analysis of the U.S. Wooden Pallet and Container Industry
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2. Industry Overview
This section describes recent industry patterns and projected data of the wooden pallet
and container industry. This portion of the analysis utilizes the Inforum Iliad (Interindustry
Large-scale Integrated And Dynamic) model of the United States. The Iliad model
includes a database of output, employment, value added, and other concepts at a
level of 352 producing sectors, which is approximately 5- to 6-digit NAICS detail in most
cases.
All of the data present in this report represents the NWPCA share of the relevant industries
in the model. The Iliad sector named 'All Other Wood Products', includes both 'Wood
Container and Pallet Manufacturing' (NAICS 32192) and 'All Other Wood Product
Manufacturing' (NAICS 32199).
2.1 Output
Output, in economic terms, refers to the total value of all goods and services produced
by an industry. Figure 1 shows historical output from 2002 to 2016. Data underlying this
graph are in Table 1.
Output of wooden pallets and containers increased
over 20 percent between 2003 and 2005, rising from
$10.4 billion to $12.6 billion. However, the industry
suffered major declines between 2005 and 2009,
falling nearly 40 percent. Recession losses were
especially steep in 2009, when the industry declined
over 29 percent in a single year. A year later,
however, the industry recovered and began a period of seven consecutive years of
expansion. Robust average growth of 4.9 percent per year helped output rise from $7.6
billion in 2009 to $10.7 billion in 2016. Last year's production represents the highest level of
output since 2007.
Direct output in NWPCA-
related industries exceeded
$10.7 billion in 2016.
