Pallets in Beaver County

01 Land and water

The Ohio River divides the county's southern third from its northern two-thirds, and the Beaver River flows south from Lawrence County to meet the Ohio near the town of Beaver. Aliquippa is the largest city and Beaver Falls and Monaca are the other towns. The Turnpike (I-76), I-376, US 30 and PA 18 and 51 are the major routes.

02 The Shell complex

The Shell Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex runs a rail system with over 3,000 freight cars on a 386-acre site, and has a nameplate capacity of 1.6 million tons a year of plastic pellets. Pellets ship in bags, boxes and bulk, so adjacent suppliers ask for sturdy square pallets.

03 The old steelworks land

Aliquippa Works, the steel mill that once stretched along the Ohio River in Aliquippa, has been broken up and reused. Cellular PVC maker Versatex and U.S. Minerals own much of what remains. In 2024 the state announced a $40 million, 96,500-square-foot Versatex building at the Aliquippa Industrial Park, with 80 new jobs, and McCarl's has announced a $15 million expansion that includes an 80,000-square-foot building.

These are small and mid-size plants, not the Shell complex. They ship building products and fabricated goods, which suggests steady pallet needs of a more ordinary kind than resin bags.

04 Between the plants

Between the large plants sit smaller yards in Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Monaca and Ambridge. Most are fabricators, suppliers and local manufacturers, and their piles are of the ordinary kind: a few dozen pallets, mixed grades, mostly 48 x 40.

05 Potter Township

Potter Township, Beaver County, sits on the Ohio River at Monaca, and the Shell Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex is its dominant industry: polyethylene resin pellets, shipped by rail and truck.