Spartech Receives Invest in France Automotive Award

ST. LOUIS, April 15 -- Spartech Corporation was one of three companies honored at the tenth annual Invest in France Automotive Awards during the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress. Along with GM Powertrain and Magna International, Spartech was recognized as a leading North American supplier to the automotive industry that has made significant investments in new or expanded facilities in France. Spartech was recognized for its commitment to invest more than $15 million over the past two years to develop new technology for manufacturing highly engineered multi-layer barrier plastic sheet used in the production of fuel tanks at its Donchery facility in the Ardennes region of France.

Spartech Chairman, President, and CEO, Bradley B. Buechler, accepting the award for the company, stated, "It is truly an honor to receive this award for our investment in France that supports our continued effort to expand technology for our automotive customers. The long-term program awarded by Visteon Corporation in late 2003 to manufacture multi-layer plastic sheet was the first important step in this decision to expand our investment in France. We believe our commitment to strategic investments in new product capabilities and growing manufacturing regions such as this will increase our opportunities to be a valued supplier to all of our customer base."

Spartech Executive Vice President - Color & Specialty Compounds and International, George A. Abd, added, "The expanded Donchery France facility provides our first custom extruded sheet capabilities in Europe. We tripled our square footage within the facility to accommodate these new capabilities with the first extrusion line starting production last fall and the second line scheduled to become fully operational by the end of May. In addition to this capital investment, the expansion will create approximately 50 new jobs over the next three years. We expect our custom extruded sheet capabilities to continue to expand through this investment in Europe."

Finally, Mr. Buechler stated, "We are extremely grateful for the significant support received from the French government including the efforts of Mr. Jean-Paul Bachy, President Champagne-Ardenne, and his team during the recent expansion of our Donchery facility. We look forward to the growth and continuing technology advancements afforded by this operation in the future."

Spartech Corporation is a leading producer of engineered thermoplastic materials, polymeric compounds, and molded & profile products, which following its recently announced plant restructuring plan, will have 47 facilities located throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe, with annual production capacity of more than 1.4 billion pounds and sales of approximately $1.2 billion, annually.

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