A. Schulman Announces Plans to Discontinue Manufacturing at its Dispersion Plant in Orange, Texas

Plant closing is part of a corporate-wide effort to align existing production capacity with market demand in North America

AKRON, Ohio, April 8 -- A. Schulman Inc. today announced that it will discontinue manufacturing operations at its Dispersion plant in Orange, Texas. The shutdown is expected to be completed during the Company's fiscal 2003 fourth quarter, which ends August 31, 2003.

A. Schulman estimates that the plant closing will generate approximately $5 million in annual savings beginning in fiscal 2004. The Company is presently finalizing the cost of this action and anticipates total charges of approximately $6 to $8 million during its fiscal 2003 third and fourth quarters.

The 145,000-square-foot plant, which A. Schulman has operated since the late 1950s, has an annual production capacity of approximately 60 million pounds. The plant's main products are black concentrates and thermoplastic olefins manufactured primarily for the U.S. auto market. The plant has 68 employees.

Closing the Dispersion plant will reduce the Company's North American production capacity by roughly 12 percent, from approximately 500 million pounds to 440 million pounds. The Company will shift manufacturing of the plant's products to other facilities in North America, where possible. This will improve capacity utilization and cost efficiency at those facilities.

"The decision to close this plant was made after very careful analysis," said Terry L. Haines, president and chief executive officer. "This was a difficult decision but absolutely necessary to help us align our North American production capacity and cost structure with the market realities. We invested in this plant over the years, but on balance, there is sufficient capacity at our other facilities."

The plant closing is part of a corporate-wide effort to balance the production capacity of A. Schulman with market demand in North America. The Company's North American business, particularly its U.S. operations, is being affected by higher resin prices, continuing competitive pressure and weak demand for value-added engineered products.

This action and the anticipated cost savings are in addition to the Company's recently announced program to improve cost efficiency and profitability throughout its U.S. operations. The primary goal of that 26- week program is to generate annual operating savings of $6 to $7 million starting with the Company's 2004 fiscal year, which begins September 1, 2003.

About A. Schulman Inc.

Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, A. Schulman is a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins. These materials are used in a variety of consumer, industrial, automotive and packaging applications. The Company employs about 2,400 people and has 13 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe, Mexico and the Asia-Pacific region. Revenues for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2002 were approximately $967 million. Additional information about A. Schulman can be found on the World Wide Web at www.aschulman.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this release which are not historical facts are forward- looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties and actual events or results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in this release. These "forward-looking statements" are based on currently available information. They are also inherently uncertain, and investors must recognize that events could turn out to be significantly different from what was expected. Examples of such uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:

  * Worldwide and regional economic, business and political conditions
  * Fluctuations in the value of the currencies in major areas where the
    Company operates, i.e., the U.S. dollar, the Euro, U.K. pound sterling,
    Canadian dollar, Mexican peso and Indonesian rupiah
  * Fluctuations in the prices of plastic resins and other raw materials
  * Changes in customer demand and requirements

In addition, this release contains time-sensitive information that reflects management's best analysis only as of the date of this release. A. Schulman does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events, information or circumstances that arise after the date of this release. Further information concerning issues that could materially affect financial performance related to forward-looking statements can be found in A. Schulman's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.