Business and property

Manufacturing

Our plants produce a range of base chemicals, including ethylene, propylene and aromatics, and intermediate chemicals such as styrene monomer, propylene oxide, solvents, detergent alcohols, ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol. We have the capacity to produce around 6.5 million tonnes of ethylene a year. We are expanding our product portfolio to include sustainable chemicals, more intermediates and performance chemicals such as polyethylene and polycarbonate. We operate chemical plants worldwide and have a global balance of locations, feedstocks and products that allows us to seize commercial opportunities and get through cycles of lower margins.

Shell’s Chemicals business is transforming and has integrated further with our Refining business. In addition to our standalone, chemicals-only production sites, we are transforming our refineries into five energy and chemicals parks. We expect this to happen at the following sites: Norco in the USA, Scotford in Canada, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Rheinland in Germany and Pulau Bukom in Singapore. The energy and chemicals parks are expected to focus more on meeting customers’ low-carbon and sustainability needs.

Marketing

In 2021, we supplied more than 14 million tonnes of petrochemicals to more than 1,000 industrial customers worldwide. Products made from chemicals are used in everyday life in medical equipment, construction, transport, electronics, agriculture and sports. As global demand for chemicals increases, we plan to increase the size of our business, by understanding and responding to our customers’ needs.