5 factors that will influence your choice of export packaging 

5 factors that will influence your choice of export packaging 

The term “export packaging” refers to the materials and related processes used to ensure goods transported across national borders arrive safe and intact with the recipient. That might seem a simple enough principle, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the task of appropriately labelling and packaging your goods will necessarily be a simple and stress-free one. 

As a trusted provider of freight forwarding and export packaging solutions here at KTL UK, we are pleased to provide advice and assistance in relation to this vital aspect of transporting goods to other countries. 

But as a starting point, we have below set out five factors that you will need to bear especially closely in mind when deciding on your export packaging for a given product. 

• The protection of the product 

If export packaging has one purpose above all else, it is ensuring that the goods being transported do not sustain avoidable damage. 

This helps to explain the widespread use of pallets and containers in the export packaging solutions of today; they help ensure reliable protection for goods, without compromising how quickly the transported items can reach their destination. 

• The security of the product 

At various points during its journey around the world, an item being transported could be at risk of being tampered with or stolen. 

There are various export packaging solutions that can help minimise these risks, such as “containerisation”, container seals, shrink-wrapping, and secure straps. 

The imperative to ensure product security is also a good reason to use the plainest possible packaging, avoiding any mention of brand names or similar details that could make it more tempting for a wrongdoer to steal the given package. 

• The packaging solutions that are available 

The world of export packaging – or at least, materials that can be excellent export packaging solutions in certain circumstances – can be more overwhelming and confusing than you might expect. This is simply one more reason to place your trust in a company – such as KTL UK – that can help and advise you on this subject. 

You might imagine that it can’t be too complicated to simply use cardboard boxes for your export packaging. But would a wooden box be a better choice for the goods you are looking to ship? Or maybe it would be wiser to use crates, which consist of slatted sections to enable visibility and inspection of contained goods, as might be a requirement for certain freight? 

Ask reputable and experienced freight forwarders like those of KTL UK about the particular packaging requirements that your goods will have, and you can be confident of choosing the right solutions from the wealth of those available. 

• Waste legislation 

In some parts of the world, there are waste regulations that seek to ensure packaging used for such purposes as the transportation of goods has a minimal adverse impact on the environment when it is disposed of, or is easy to recycle. 

These are aspects that you might need to educate yourself on for the intended destination of your items, and which could greatly influence the packaging you decide on. 

• The cost of the packaging 

The financial aspect of export packaging solutions is also an unavoidable aspect. One thing that you absolutely shouldn’t do when determining which packaging solutions to use, though, is allow cost to be your sole or predominant priority. The use of substandard packaging will almost certainly be a false economy, for what we hope will be obvious reasons to you. 

The fact is, the industry “standard” export packaging solutions have become so, because they have been proved to be reliable, ticking all the essential boxes as protective and secure forms of packaging for all manner of goods. So, you are unlikely to be well-served by deviating from this. 

Are you ready to ensure you get every aspect of your own organisation’s export packaging right in 2023, 2024, and beyond? If so, the KTL UK team would be pleased to hear from you, and to provide direct help with this crucial aspect of the process of moving products across national borders. 

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