The industrial picture

Jebel Ali, DIC, Aviation City and the interior estates

Dubai is less a manufacturing city than a re-export consolidation hub, and the wood-packaging demand concentrates in a few well-defined belts. Which belt a buyer sits in usually tells you what crate they need.

Jebel Ali Port and JAFZA

Jebel Ali anchors the Jebel Ali Free Zone — re-export consolidators, regional distribution centres and bonded warehouses that re-bundle electronics and textile shipments. The packing is typically light to medium-duty crates and four-way pallets used inside containers, so 12 mm and 15 mm packing-grade plywood with planed softwood framing dominates.

Dubai Industrial City

South of Jebel Ali, Dubai Industrial City houses heavier-engineering tenants — machinery assembly, building-materials processing, food and beverage. The typical job is a heavy-duty export crate for a single machine: 18 mm packing-grade plywood with hardwood skids, bolt-down corner cleats and silica-gel dunnage.

Dubai Aviation City and DWC

Around Al Maktoum International, the profile shifts to aerospace MRO crates and high-value airfreight packing — smaller boxes, but flat, void-free panels matter more than raw load rating.

Dubai Investments Park and Al Quoz

The interior estates handle joinery, furniture and fit-out work for construction. This is where shuttering ply and sawn-timber lots land alongside the packing-grade range.

What we ship

Packing-grade ply, crates, pallets, flooring

Forty years of group manufacturing has shaped a tight, repeatable range for GCC re-export work. We ship what the Dubai sector actually consumes, in container quantities.

Packing-grade plywood

Our staple is commercial / rubberwood packing-grade, ex-factory in 8 × 4 ft across 6 mm to 18 mm. For JAFZA consolidators the workhorses are 12 mm (light crate walls), 15 mm (medium crates, pallet decks) and 18 mm (heavy bases and skids) — flat lay, square edges, minus tolerance on stated thickness.

Crates and pallets

Where we are quoted on finished crates, we build to ISPM-15 using heat-treated softwood framing and hardwood runners with packing-grade panels — collapsible export crates, closed boarded cases for sensitive equipment, open-top skidded bases for heavy machinery. Pallets are four-way ISPM-15 in 1200 × 1000 and 1200 × 800 footprints, plus custom oversize bases for project cargo; block pallets for automated lines, stringer pallets for general repack.

Container flooring, Okoume and shuttering

For consolidators rebuilding worn FCL boxes, 28 mm hardwood-faced container-flooring plywood in the standard 19-ply construction. Okoume face veneer is a finish option on the packing or BWR core for branded electronics re-export where the outer case is visible. Shuttering ply goes to fit-out buyers in DIP and Al Quoz on standalone orders.

Logistics

Cochin to Jebel Ali — 3 to 5 days by sea

The lane economics on this corridor are exceptionally clean, which is why GCC buyers default to South Indian supply.

For a 40' HC load of 18 mm packing-grade the sheet count fits cleanly within payload, and the short sea leg keeps demurrage risk low at the Dubai end. ISPM-15 compliance is non-negotiable on this lane — every crate, pallet and dunnage piece carries an IPPC mark traceable to the treatment facility.

Choosing a grade

Which grade fits which Dubai job

• JAFZA consolidation re-pack — 12 mm or 15 mm commercial packing-grade. High volume, light individual crates, no need for exhibition-quality panels.
• Heavy machinery export from DIC — 18 mm packing-grade on hardwood-skidded bases; specify BWR packing if the consignment is high value or onward to a humid African destination.
• Branded electronics or premium textile re-export — Okoume face on the MR-Packing core; the brighter, cleaner grain matters to the receiving warehouse.
• Construction fit-out in DIP or Al Quoz — shuttering ply or BWR hardwood plywood per the architect's spec, quoted as a separate line.
• Container floor refurbishment — 28 mm hardwood-faced flooring ply only; nothing thinner survives a forklift cycle.

FAQ

Common questions from Dubai buyers

Do you supply ISPM-15 stamped pallets and crates?

Yes. All wood-packaging material shipped out of Cochin Port for the GCC carries IPPC marking from a registered heat-treatment facility, with treatment certificates attached to the shipping documents.

What is the minimum order quantity for FCL to Jebel Ali?

We quote in container loads. A 40' HC is the standard unit; mixed loads (packing-grade sheets plus pre-built pallets) are routine. Sub-container quantities ship LCL through Cochin consolidators on agreed lead times.

How do you handle thickness tolerance and moisture for Gulf-climate transit?

Packing-grade is supplied minus on stated thickness per the standard convention. Moisture content is held to the range needed for stable transit through Gulf humidity, and we kiln-dry sawn-timber lots before crate fabrication when specs call for it.

Get a quote

Sourcing for a Dubai operation?

Send the spec — thickness, sheet count or crate dimensions, ISPM marking requirement, port of discharge and Incoterm — and we usually quote a finished container within 24–48 hours, with FOB Cochin and CIF Jebel Ali numbers plus a realistic loading plan. Request a quote with your packing list, or browse the resource hub for the grade, ISPM-15 and crate-construction reference notes we share at the spec stage.