LANXESS and Hankook Tire form partnership for synthetic rubber

LANXESS and Korean Hankook Tire have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to co-develop synthetic rubber technologies for high-performance tyres. Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly study the development of new high-performance synthetic rubber grades and applications that increase the performance of tyres from early stages of product development.
 
LANXESS and Hankook Tire have maintained a close partnership since 2008, when Hankook Tire awarded LANXESS a long-term contract to supply solution styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR) and neodymium performance butadiene rubber (Nd-PBR) – both core materials for high-performance tires. This newly established technical partnership is expected to further strengthen the ties between LANXESS and Hankook Tire.
 
The market for high-performance tyres is showing a rapid rise due to increasing demand for premium tyres and the introduction of tyre labelling in South Korea, the European Union (EU) and Japan. In December 2012, South Korea became the second market in the world after the EU to implement a mandatory tyre labelling system. Since then, high-performance synthetic rubbers for high-performance tyres have stirred major interest among Korea’s tyre and automotive-related industries. Japan introduced a voluntary label in 2010, while Brazil will follow with a labelling system in 2016. China and the US are similarly developing implementation plans.
 
LANXESS, the world’s largest synthetic rubber supplier, provides high-performance synthetic rubbers to globally leading tire makers. Last October, the company launched two new easy-processing Nd-PBR rubber grades – Buna Nd 22 EZ and Buna Nd 24 EZ – aimed at the fast-growing high-performance tires market, especially in Asia. LANXESS is also currently building the world’s largest Nd-PBR manufacturing facility in Singapore and this is expected to come on stream in 2015.
 
Dr Joachim Grub, head of the Performance Butadiene Rubbers business unit, said, “LANXESS has a strong reputation for sophisticated and customised R&D efforts and for having ‘innovation’ as its key driving force. In this new technical partnership, we will assist Hankook Tire in achieving a key position as a global tire maker of high-quality products based on leading-edge technologies.”