Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC, a subsidiary of Shell, has commenced operations of its Pennsylvania Chemical project, Shell Polymers Monaca (SPM). The Pennsylvania facility is the first major polyethylene manufacturing complex in the Northeastern United States and has a designed output of 1.6 million tonnes annually.
Strategically located within a 700-mile radius of 70 percent of the U.S. polyethylene market, SPM sits on 384 acres adjacent to the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pa. SPM contracted most of its natural gas feedstock at Final Investment Decision from the nearby Utica and Marcellus basins. The advantages of proximity are not limited to production; SPM also offers customers shorter supply chains, which translates to increased flexibility and access to polyethylene pellets that can be used in a wide variety of products such as common household goods, consumer and food packaging, and industrial and utility products.
The start-up of Shell Polymers Monaca represe