The pallet year in Ohio

The demand cycle, quarter by quarter

Q1 (January–March). The slump. Retail volumes collapse after the holidays, construction is weather-limited, and pallet demand is at its annual low. Simultaneously, the core stream is at its richest because everything shipped in Q4 is now being unloaded and discarded.

Q2 (April–June). Construction and landscaping wake up. Building products, shingles, stone, mulch. Beverage begins ramping for summer. Demand rises fast and the Q1 core surplus starts drawing down.

Q3 (July–September). Beverage peaks. Agriculture begins — produce, grain, canning. This is often the tightest period of the year for standard footprints, because demand is high and the inbound stream has thinned.

Q4 (October–December). Retail builds toward the holidays. Volumes are high and lead times matter more than price. Then everything stops in the last two weeks of December.

Why supply runs out of phase

Reclaimed cores are a by-product of distribution. They appear when goods are *received*, not when they are shipped.

So the core stream is richest in January and February, when everything that moved for the holidays is being unloaded, unpacked and discarded — precisely when demand is at its lowest.

And it is thinnest in late summer, when distribution activity has been steady but not exceptional for months, and demand is at its highest.

That six-month phase difference between supply and demand is the main driver of within-year movement in reclaimed pricing. It has nothing to do with lumber markets, which is why reclaimed and new prices sometimes move in opposite directions — see what happens when lumber moves.

Ohio-specific wrinkles

Weather. Q1 collection is harder and slower, and outdoor-stored cores arriving in March are frequently in poor condition after an Ohio winter. See what an Ohio winter does to a pallet stack.

Agriculture. Central and northwest Ohio agricultural volumes create a genuine late-summer spike, particularly in odd footprints used for produce and canning.

Automotive shutdowns. Summer plant shutdowns in the Marysville and Dayton corridors produce a short, sharp drop in both directions.

Mulch season. Grinding output demand peaks March to May and collapses by September, which affects what a yard does with material it cannot resell as pallets.

Planning around it

• Buy your annual volume on a schedule, not on demand. A standing arrangement smooths you across the cycle and prices better than spot buying at the peak.

• Sell cores in Q1 if you can. The stream is rich, so per-core prices are softer — but volumes are large and collection is easy to schedule, which is worth more than the last few cents.

• Order Q4 stock in Q3. Lead times stretch in the retail build and the tightest period is late summer.

• Do not overwinter a pile. The cost of degradation exceeds any price advantage from holding.

• Flag your seasonality. If you know your August is triple your February, tell us in advance and we plan against it rather than reacting.