The paint and coating producer AkzoNobel Industrial Chemicals and Hunan Xiangheng Salt Chemical Co Ltd signed an agreement on Tuesday to put mTA, an agent that prevents road salt from forming into lumps, into use in Beijing.

Equipment for the mTA agent has been shipped to China, and Hunan Xiangheng Salt Chemical in Hunan province's Hengyang city plans to use the anti-caking agent on four salt production lines.

The use of the material is expected to leads to savings on both energy and maintenance costs and to improve safety.

Peter Kuijpers, general manger of AkzoNobel's salt business, said the agreement will be mutually beneficial and bring the Chinese salt and chlor-alkali industry many advantages.

Hunan Xiangheng Salt Chemical plans to supply mTA salt to the Guangxi Liuhua Chlor-Alkali, a plant capable of producing 150,000 tons of caustic soda a year.