Hankook Tire and German specialty chemicals firm Lanxess will work together on the development of synthetic rubber technologies for use in high performance tyres. The details of the two companies’ collaboration were laid out in a Memorandum of Understanding signed on 26 February. Under the agreement, Hankook and Lanxess will jointly work to expedite the development of synthetic rubber grades for high performance tyres. Lanxess says the MoU builds on the ties it has maintained with Hankook since 2008, when the tyre maker awarded it a long-term contract to supply solution styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR) and neodymium performance butadiene rubber (Nd-PBR).