Heat-treated wooden crates and pallets for exporters

A unit that builds wooden pallets, boxes and heavy crates for goods going abroad, and heat-treats the wood so it meets ISPM-15 (the international rule that export wood packaging must be treated against pests and stamped). Shipments on untreated wood can be held, treated at the owner's cost or sent back, so exporters cannot skip this.

Chennai sits at the centre of three ports: Chennai Port, Kamarajar Port at Ennore and Kattupalli. NABARD's 2023-24 credit plan puts export credit potential for the district at ₹9,000 crore and notes that Chennai handles most of India's automotive exports. Engine parts, gearboxes, machinery and spares leave on pallets and in crates, often made to size for each order.

You need a shed near the port roads or the industrial belt, a heat-treatment chamber, saws and nailing tools, a steady timber supply, and approval from the national plant quarantine authority, which registers treatment units and their stamp. Other pallet makers already serve the port belt, so on-time delivery at short notice is how you win orders. Timber prices swing, and fire safety matters a great deal in a timber yard.

Win work from export packing agents, freight forwarders and the dispatch teams of auto-component makers. Keep a few standard pallet sizes in stock for quick orders.