LEVERKUSEN, Germany (May 8, 2007) — Synthetic rubber producer Lanxess A.G. has signed a long-term supply contract for styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and polybutadiene rubber with South Korean tire maker Hankook Tire Co. Ltd.
The companies did not disclose the value of the contract but said the deal would double the volume of rubber Hankook buys from Lanxess, formerly a part of Bayer A.G.
The deal was signed May 7 in Dormagen, Germany, by Jeong Ho Park, general manager of global raw material purchasing for Hankook, and Joachim Grub, head of Lanxess' polybutadiene rubber business unit.
Hankook operates tire plants South Korea and China and plans to start production in mid-2007 at a new plant in Tatabanya, Hungary.
Leverkusen-based Lanxess claims to be the world's largest supplier of SBR/polybutadiene rubber, with plants in Orange, Texas, Port Jerome, France, and Dormagen, plus an emulsion SBR plant in La Wantzenau, France. The business segment reported sales of $2.23 billion last year.