Wooden Pallet Boards in Hanoi: Choosing, Prices, Where to Buy

Cheap wooden pallet boards in Hanoi come in two forms: whole used pallets for lining warehouse floors and holding goods off the ground, and slats taken from pallets for do-it-yourself projects; whole used pallets usually cost least and can be used straight away. Choose pallets with the HT (heat treated) mark and wood below 20% moisture, and store them somewhere airy, because Hanoi has an average annual humidity of 79% and a damp “nom” season above 85%, and wood left out for long is likely to go mouldy.

Many people know a pallet only as a finished block, but for those of us in the trade, every wooden pallet board or ‘slat’ has value of its own. After large pallets finish their industrial life, the good boards are still a usable source of material for many other purposes, as long as they are chosen and treated properly.

Quick summary: this article separates the whole “wooden pallet board” used to line floors from the loose “pallet wood slats” used in DIY projects, a large group of users in the wooden pallet trade; explains how to price each form, including the unit price of whole used wooden pallets and the price of pallet wood in slat form; guides you on choosing and on preventing mould in the nom season; and suggests where to buy in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and how to order from ICD Vietnam.

Demand to buy wooden pallet boards keeps growing, not only in industry but also in furniture and creative decoration. With a low price, flexibility and a rustic look, cheap wooden pallet boards are chosen by many people for both warehouses and household items.

This article is a handbook to help you find the right source in Hanoi, with suggestions for customers in Ho Chi Minh City, and specific checks so that you do not end up with damp wood, borers, or fumigated pallets that are not suitable for indoor use.

What is a “wooden pallet board”? Two different ideas to tell apart

“Wooden pallet board” is a general name for both a whole used pallet and the boards taken off pallets; the price, how to choose and where to buy differ between the two.

When searching, people usually have two main needs. The first is the whole wooden pallet board: a complete pallet, usually a used wooden pallet, bought to line warehouse floors, hold goods off damp, or make a pallet bed frame. The second is pallet wood slats: boards, usually pine, taken apart from pallets that are no longer used, very popular in DIY projects such as wall cladding, tables and chairs, and bookshelves.

Knowing exactly which one you need helps you find the right supplier and get an accurate price.

How many boards can you get from one EPAL pallet?

An EPAL 1 pallet (800 x 1200 x 144 mm) has 11 boards, 9 blocks and 78 nails and weighs about 25 kg, according to the European Pallet Association EPAL. If you dismantle it for boards, the 1,200 mm boards (5 top boards and 3 bottom boards) are the most useful part for DIY; the 3 shorter cross boards and the 9 blocks usually suit only small parts.

Reference prices for cheap wooden pallet boards

Used pallet boards have the lowest price among the forms of pallet wood and are priced per piece; planed slats and bundled pine are priced per slat or per cubic metre, so they need converting to the volume of work. Prices change with size, wood species, condition and quantity, so ICD Vietnam quotes lot by lot.

Whole used pallet boards for lining floors are priced per piece, price: contact us for a quote. Planed and treated pallet pine slats are priced per slat, price: contact us for a quote. Whole bundles of untreated pallet pine are priced per cubic metre, price: contact us for a quote. When comparing quotations between suppliers, bring them to the same unit and the same wood condition.

Prices change with size, wood species, condition and the quantity per lot. For the wooden pallets supplied by ICD Vietnam, please contact us for a quote to your exact specification and quantity.

How many pallet slats does it take to clad 10 m² of wall?

A quick way is to divide the area to be clad by the area of one slat, then add 10% waste for trimmed ends, cracks and nail holes. The example below assumes slats 1.2 m long and 100 mm wide on average.

Each slat covers 1.2 m x 0.1 m = 0.12 m², so 10 m² of wall needs 10 / 0.12, about 84 slats; adding 10% waste (84 x 1.1) gives about 92 slats. If you take only the 5 top boards from each EPAL pallet, you need about 92 / 5, which is about 19 pallets.

If you also use the 3 bottom boards of 1,200 mm, the number of pallets drops to about 12. Top boards and bottom boards have different widths, so when cladding, sort them by width first so that the joints are even.

A guide to choosing quality wooden pallet boards

To choose a used pallet board, check 4 points: cracks at the blocks, warping, mould and rusty nails; for slats used in furniture, prefer wood that has been dried and planed.

To get a cheap wooden pallet board that is still good quality, keep these in mind:

For whole (used) pallet boards, you should:

• Check carefully for cracks, especially at the blocks and joints.
• Place the pallet on a flat surface to see whether it is warped.
• Avoid pallets that show signs of rot or heavy damp mould.

For slats used in DIY, you should:

• Prefer wood that has been dried, to avoid warping later.
• Look closely for many bore holes.
• Choose slats whose surface is already planed, to save effort.
• Check whether many rusty nails are still stuck in that are hard to pull out.

Why do wooden pallets bought in Hanoi go mouldy in the nom season?

Wood absorbs moisture from the air until it reaches equilibrium moisture content, so during the damp weeks of the nom season, wooden pallets left outdoors or in a closed warehouse in Hanoi can pass the 20% moisture threshold at which mould starts to grow. According to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, Hanoi’s average annual relative humidity is 79%, with rainfall of about 1,800 mm and about 114 rainy days a year.

From late February to April, damp nom weather is common in Hanoi, with air humidity above 85% and drizzle, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (as cited by the newspaper Economy and Environment). The table below shows how much moisture wood will take up when left for a long time at those humidity levels.

The equilibrium moisture figures come from Table 4-2 of the Wood Handbook of the US Forest Products Laboratory (USDA FPL); the 20% threshold comes from the chapter on biological properties of wood in the same handbook. So when you buy used wooden pallets in the nom season, you should:

Read the marks on a pallet before bringing it indoors

The mark stamped on the blocks shows how the pallet was treated; for pallets used as beds and shelves indoors, this is the most important information to look at.

The IPPC mark on export pallets under the ISPM 15 standard shows the country code, the treatment facility code and the symbol for the treatment method. The European Union has banned the use of methyl bromide inside the bloc since 2010 but still accepts imported pallets treated by HT or MB under ISPM 15, so used pallets with the MB mark can still appear on the market.

Where to buy cheap wooden pallet boards in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City?

In Hanoi, good-value used pallet boards are usually found at pallet depots on the edge of the city and in industrial areas, while treated slats are bought at timber shops, carpentry workshops or online liquidation groups.

Buying cheap wooden pallet boards in Hanoi

• Used pallet depots on the outskirts, near industrial parks, are an abundant source of used wooden pallets in Hanoi; call ahead to ask about type, quantity and condition.
• To buy pallet wood in Hanoi in the form of treated slats, you can go to furniture timber shops or small carpentry workshops that will plane and cut to order.
• Pallet liquidation groups on Facebook offer many choices, but you should see the goods in person and check the treatment mark before paying.

Buying cheap wooden pallet boards in Ho Chi Minh City

• As in Hanoi, used pallet depots in Ho Chi Minh City are usually on the edge of the city and near neighbouring industrial parks.
• Areas that specialise in timber and furnishing materials are where you can find pallet wood slats sold at retail.
• You can also look in pallet furniture groups and used pallet liquidation groups in Ho Chi Minh City on social media.

ICD Vietnam supplies wooden pallet boards to businesses

ICD Vietnam makes new wooden pallets at its workshop and has a clearance line of used EPAL-standard wooden pallets, 800 x 1200 x 144 mm; customers in Hanoi contact the Hanoi warehouse and customers in the south contact the southern workshop for a quote.

Whether you need a single pallet to hold goods off the floor or hundreds of pallet wood slats for your furniture project, the quality and origin of the wood are what matter most.

At ICD Vietnam, we supply new wooden pallets to your specification and a clearance line of used EPAL-standard wooden pallet boards. We do not buy back used pallets, so the quantity of clearance stock depends on each batch. Price: contact us for a quote, with quantity discounts. Contact us now for a quote and advice.

ICD Vietnam’s clearance line of used EPAL-standard wooden pallets measures 800 x 1200 x 144 mm, is a single-face block pallet with 4-way entry, with a static load of 4,000 kg and a dynamic load of 1,500 kg; price: contact us for a quote.

ICD Vietnam’s Hanoi warehouse is at 3rd Floor, Thang Long A1 Building, Bau Hamlet, Thien Loc Commune, Hanoi. When asking for a price, tell us the size, quantity and purpose (warehouse storage, export, or stripping for wood) in advance so we can advise the right type.

Under the company’s shipping policy, orders are processed within 1 - 2 days; delivery takes 1 - 3 days within Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, 2 - 5 days between regions and 3 - 7 days to other provinces. Wooden pallets carry no warranty, but can be exchanged or returned within 7 days under company policy.

Frequently asked questions when buying wooden pallet boards in Hanoi

The questions below collect the usual queries when buying wooden pallet boards and pallet wood in Hanoi.

How much does a cubic metre of pallet pine cost?

The price of a cubic metre of pallet pine depends on origin, moisture, whether it has been dried, knots, cracks and the quantity per lot. ICD Vietnam quotes by specification and quantity: contact us for a quote.

Is it safe to buy used wooden pallet boards to make a bed?

Yes, if you choose correctly. Prefer pallets with the “HT” mark (Heat Treated) and avoid those with the “MB” mark (Methyl Bromide fumigation). Always clean and sand the wood surface thoroughly before use.

Is a “cheap pallet centre” (“tam pallet go gia re”) a type of pallet?

Most likely not. Searchers who type “tam pallet go gia re” usually mean “cheap wooden pallet boards” and have mistyped the tone mark on the Vietnamese word for board.

What are old pallet wood slats used for?

Old pallet slats are usually used for wall cladding, bookshelves, coffee tables, low beds, planters and decorative partitions in cafes. The 1,200 mm boards of an EPAL pallet suit table tops and wall cladding; blocks and short boards suit shelf feet and small parts.

What should I watch for when buying pallet wood slats in Hanoi?

When buying pallet wood slats in Hanoi, check whether the wood is dry, whether broken nails remain, whether there are bore holes and whether the surface is planed. If you buy in the nom season (late February to April), air the wood or let it dry for a few days before working and finishing it.

Do wooden pallets go mouldy in the nom season?

Yes. When air humidity reaches 90-95%, wood can reach an equilibrium moisture of about 20.5-23.9%, above the 20% threshold at which mould grows easily (USDA FPL Wood Handbook). Raising pallets off the floor, letting air move through them and applying oil or paint to indoor items will limit mould.

Does ICD Vietnam buy used wooden pallets?

No. ICD Vietnam does not buy used wooden pallets; the company’s clearance line of used EPAL-standard pallets varies by batch, so contact us first to ask whether stock is available.

How long does it take to receive wooden pallets ordered in Hanoi?

Under ICD Vietnam’s shipping policy, orders are processed within 1 - 2 days and delivered within Hanoi in 1 - 3 days; orders between regions take 2 - 5 days and other provinces 3 - 7 days.

Contact ICD Vietnam

References

• EPAL 1 pallet specifications (800 x 1200 x 144 mm, 11 boards, 9 blocks, 78 nails): EPAL.
• Hanoi climate (average humidity 79%, 1,800 mm of rain, 114 rainy days): Vietnam National Authority of Tourism.
• Damp nom weather in northern Vietnam from late February to April, per the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting: cited by Economy and Environment.
• Wood Handbook (FPL-GTR-190), chapter 4 Table 4-2 and chapter 14: USDA FPL.
• ISPM 15 Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade: IPPC, FAO.
• Resolution 1656/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the arrangement of commune-level administrative units of Hanoi in 2025, National Assembly Standing Committee.