TERRE HAUTE, Ind.—Recycled carbon black manufacturer Pyrolyx U.S.A. has obtained approval for up to $70 million in bonds to finance the building of a second rCB plant in Terre Haute.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. and China formally have signed a "Phase One" trade agreement designed to be the first step in a comprehensive trade deal with China.

WASHINGTON—President Trump's "Phase One" trade agreement with China is getting mixed reviews among U.S. businesses, depending on the sector.

CLEVELAND—Dow Chemical exhibited two new liquid silicone rubbers that the company said add groundbreaking innovations to liquid silicone technology.

WASHINGTON—Organizations as diverse as the United Steelworkers union, the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, the Auto Care Association, the National Retail Federation and the National Association of Manufacturers expressed approval of USMCA, the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which became effective in 1994.

PORT NECHES, Texas—A butadiene-fueled fire that broke out following a pair of explosions at a TPC Group butadiene extraction facility in Port Neches has been extinguished, but the impact on the surrounding community and the butadiene market overall still is being assessed.

SACRAMENTO—Fifty-two auto parts manufacturers, including several rubber-related companies, have agreed to pay a total of more than $23 million to settle charges of antitrust law violations brought by the state of California.

CLEVELAND—Nihon Spindle Manufacturing, the Amagasaki, Japan-based manufacturer of Moriyama rubber mixers, and Sanyu U.S.A., its U.S. distributor, both made major decisions about operations just ahead of the recent International Elastomer Conference in Cleveland.

SEOUL, South Korea—Hankook Tire & Technology's new Virtual Compound Design system can predict the characteristics of a tire compound through artificial intelligence analysis, eliminating the need for actual testing.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Zeon offers more than a place to work. The company's culture makes work a fun place to be.

CLEVELAND—Rubber chemical distributor ChemSpec came to the International Elastomer Conference with new customers and a new division.

NASHVILLE—Bridgestone Americas has begun at-scale use of recovered carbon black in tire production.

CLEVELAND—Peter Donnelly, the new president of Cancarb, was appointed to the post at the time the company began a 20 percent expansion of production capacity at its thermal carbon black manufacturing plant in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

LAKE BARRINGTON, Ill.—Plastics and balloon maker CTI Industries has issued a notice of closure for its Lake Barrington plant, according to the latest list of closure notices for Illinois under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

NEWMARKET, Ontario—Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at AirBoss of America Corp. grew 12.1 percent to $6 million in the third quarter of 2019 compared with the same quarter last year, according to the company.