A. Schulman

A. Schulman, Inc.
legal form	Corporation
ISIN	US8081941044
founding	1928
Seat	Fairlawn , United States
management	Joseph M. Gingo, President & CEO
Number of employees	4,900
sales	2.461 bn USD
Website	www.aschulman.com
	As of August 31, 2017

The US stock company A. Schulman , headquartered in Fairlawn, Ohio , is a company in the field of compounding of plastics . The company offers technical plastic compounds, color concentrates and plastic additives and plastic powders for a wide range of applications in plastics processing. The aim of compounding is to find a solution for technical material requirements through a suitable material design . The main buyers of compounds are the automotive and packaging industries , although the materials are also used in many other products. The company employs around 4,900 people worldwide (as of 2017) and has 38 production locations worldwide, including one in Kerpen in the Rhineland .

Company history

The company was founded by Alex Schulman in 1928, and the first factory opened in 1929 at the company's current headquarters in Akron, Ohio. As in the production facility in East St. Louis , Illinois , which opened in 1935, components were initially made of rubber for the growing automotive industry . After the Second World War, thermoplastics were included in the product range and the first trading offices were set up in Europe. This was followed by the founding of the production facilities in Bellevue , Ohio , (founded in 1955) for the manufacture of PVC compounds and for the manufacture of ABS, PP, PE and PS compounds and in Orange , Texas (founded in 1959). The first European plant was built in Bornem , Belgium in 1963 . The first production facility in Germany followed in 1973 in Kerpen .

In February 2018, LyondellBasell ( Houston , Texas ), also based in the plastics sector, announced that it would take over 100% of the company's shares. In June 2018, this takeover was approved by the shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting.