(Yicai Global) June 1 -- Shares in Lomon Billions Group, a Chinese pigment manufacturer, leaped today after the company revealed it has penned a China exclusive deal to use technology from Germany’s Ti-Cons Technology Consulting to improve its chloride titanium dioxide production line.

Lomon stock [SHE:002601] was up 8.5 percent at CNY16.95 (USD2.37) when the markets closed for lunch.

The move will boost annual production capacity of the production line to 100,000 tons from 60,000, the Henan-based company said in a statement yesterday. The pair plan to install smart power control systems on the production line to improve product quality, make the facility more eco-friendly and lower the costs of production as part of a five-year agreement.

Titanium dioxide is a high-performance white pigment and the Chinese government is pushing companies to find more environmentally friendly ways of producing it. Making the pigment is typically costly and technologically complex, and Lomon has the capacity to produce 360,000 tons a year, according to public data.

The statement did not specify the financial details of the partnership but explained that Ti-Cons will be unable to share the technology with other Chinese mainland companies and will retain independent intellectual property rights to the technologies involved in the Lomon production line.

Editor: James Boynton