Pallet unit and ancillary service costs
Pallet purchase/rental costs: The unit price for a new solid wood stringer pallet is approximately 55–95 RMB, while a fumigation-free plywood version costs about 30–45 RMB. For high-frequency, long-term shipments, pallet rental is an option; the cost is roughly 4–8 USD per trip, with the service provider handling subsequent recovery and maintenance.
Quarantine compliance costs: Solid wood stringer pallets require heat treatment or fumigation and must bear the IPPC mark. Quarantine treatment costs about 10–20 RMB per pallet, and the service fee for issuing an official quarantine certificate for the entire batch is approximately 50–100 RMB per shipment.
Palletizing and reinforcement service fees: This covers manual stacking, stretch wrapping, PET strapping, and similar operations. Standard charges at domestic warehouses are around 30 RMB per pallet, while overseas warehouses (for US/European routes) charge approximately 15–25 USD per pallet for packing and reinforcement.
Basic ocean freight costs
Core ocean freight: LCL (Less than Container Load) shipments are billed by volume (CBM) or weight-ton, while FCL (Full Container Load) shipments are charged based on the container type (e.g., 20GP or 40HQ). As pallets are part of the cargo, their own weight is included in the chargeable weight, directly affecting the total freight cost.
Ocean freight surcharges: These include Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF), Currency Adjustment Factor (CAF), Peak Season Surcharge (PSS), etc. Additionally, for some routes, a 20%–30% overweight surcharge applies if the total weight of a single pallet exceeds 1.5 metric tons.
