Shell starts up 1.6m tonne/year Pennsylvania PE complex

LONDON (ICIS)–Shell has commenced operations at its Monaca, Pennsylvania polymers complex, the company said on Tuesday, which will bring a projected capacity of 1.6m tonnes/year of polyethylene (PE) to the northeastern US.

Under construction since April 2017, the Shell Polymers Monaca site is the first major PE production unit in the area and will use ethane feedstock from the nearby Utica and Marcellus shale gas plays.

Made up of an ethane cracker and three PE units, the complex had been expected onstream before the end of the year.

The complex is the latest new large-scale PE production sites to come onstream in the US this year, and follows the start-up of new capacity started up by Bayport Polymers (Borealis/TotalEnergies) in Texas earlier in 2022.

The project is part of Shell’s chemical strategy of basing production closer to end-use customers and utilising lower-cost feedstocks. The Monaca complex is located within a 700-mile radius of 70% of the US PE market, according to Shell.

Thumbnail picture source: Shell