Check out the latest issue of ISFA's Countertops & Architectural Surfaces magazine

Check out the Latest Countertops & Architectural Surfaces Buyers' Guide issue

CCI Ultimate Concrete Countertop Training
June 17-20
Raleigh, N.C.

Stone + Tec
June 17-20
Nuremburg, Germany

Park Industries Digital Stoneworking Expo
June 20
Chicago, Ill

Natural Stone Institute Summit
July 11
Overland, Mo.

ISFA Solid Surface Industry Roundtable
Sponsored by
Wilsonart,
ASST
& TMI Systems
Aug. 13-15
Gettysburg, Pa.

ISFA
PO Box 627 Ingomar, PA 15127

Phone
(888) 599-ISFA

Email
info@isfanow.org

The 2019 ISFA Annual Meeting & Conference is being held October 20 to 23 at the exclusive Mountain Shadows Resort in beautiful Scottsdale, Ariz., and event registration is now open.

Our keynot speaker is world-renown artist Mario Romano who specializes in design, digital fabrication and the built environment. He's designed and built more than 50 million dollars-worth of custom luxury homes, and is the visionary and creator of M.R. Walls, an exclusive line of multidimensional walls carved and texturized in solid surface.

Registration includes:

• Three Nights' Stay at the Mountain Shadows Resort in the Heart of Paradise Valley
• Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Evening Cocktails
• Educational Sessions
• Welcome Reception
• Awards Reception
• Business Meeting
• Golf Scramble at The Short Course, Mountain Shadows

Conference Rates (Apr 1-Sept 15, 2019): $1699, Extra Guest Rate: $849
After Sept 15, 2019, room prices will be subject to availability and current resort rates.

CLICK HERE to register or learn more about  the event.

On June 11 the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) affirmed its preliminary judgement that the U.S. quartz surfacing manufacturing industry was materially injured by China dumping subsidized quartz surfacing products in the United States at less than fair market value. It ruled against “critical circumstances,” which would have allowed duties to be made retroactively. The action was a result of a petition filed by Minnesota-based quartz surfacing manufacturer Cambria.

As such, the Department of Commerce will make a final determination of the amount for duties on imported Chinese quartz, but those who imported quartz products from China prior to the initial ruling will not have to pay additional fees on material likely already fabricated and sold.

The preliminary antidumping fees imposed were between 265.81 to 333.69 percent along with the countervailing duties of 45.32 to 190.99 percent, all depending on what Chinese company the quartz was imported from. The final duties will be issued by the Commerce Department on June 24. The duties imposed are in addition to the 25 percent tariffs put in place by President Trump.

 The press release issued by the USITC (which can be viewed HERE) does not specify whether the updated petition that sought to include surfaces that replaced crushed quartz with crushed glass are included in the duties, but Cambria filed to have this considered by the Commission, so these products may be included.

 The USITC’s full public report with the views and information developed by the USITC – Quartz Surface Products from China (Inv. Nos. 701-TA-606 and 731-TA-1416 (Final), USITC Publication 4913, June 2019) – will be issued in July and can be found at www.usitc.gov/commission_publications_library.

 Information on the additional duties under consideration (on Chinese ceramic, Turkish quartz and Indian quartz, as well as tariffs of up to 100 percent on quartz and stone imported from the European Union can be found HERE in the latest issue of ISFA’s Countertops & Architectural Surfaces magazine. 

Greater Cincinnati-based laminate and surfacing products maker Formica Group, founded in 1913, has been sold to a Dutch holding company for $840 million. The deal, which was announced in December, was finalized June 3. It affects 500 local employees and 3,500 worldwide. Formica has been the property of a New Zealand-based building products manufacturer, Fletcher. Besides the local factory and headquarters in Evendale, Ohio, north of Cincinnati, Formica operates a plant in Canada and five plants each in Europe and Asia. The company generated $325 million in sales last year.Broadview Holding, a Netherlands-based industrial firm, is the new owner. Broadview is controlled by another holding company, HAL Holding N.V., based in Curaçao. The sale includes Formica businesses in North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as its Homapal metal laminates business.

tools – including its Flooring Visualizer and Virtual Kitchen Designer. Available for desktop and mobile applications, the web-based solution allows customers to render MSI countertops digitally in their interior and exterior spaces – in real time. With no app to download, the Countertop Visualizer is designed to show trade partners, retailers, and homeowners how select countertops will look in their rooms in seconds. Once uploaded, the tool saves the image automatically. From there, consumers can do a variety of things: select other countertops, view product details, share it on social media and email, find a store and rate their experience. For more information Click Here.

Solid Surface fabrication is alive and well, and projected to grow through 2027! Join us for an  ISFA Solid Surface Industry Roundtable event hosted by ASST Aug. 13 to 15.  We’ll tour the ASST. fabrication shop, spend time in roundtable-style discussion focused on commercial solid surface needs, best practices and opportunities. If you manufacture, fabricate, distribute or participate in the solid surface industry in any way, you won’t want to miss this unique and special ISFA roundtable! ASST is also located a convenient 20 minutes from Gettysburg, so we’ll also fit in a fun ghost tour and evening out together exploring historic sites. To register or for more information, Click Here or email info@isfanow.org.

In case you missed these informative articles:

• ISFA Fabricator Profile: The L.E. Smith Company
• Offering Value and Understanding Sales

• Raise Your L.I.D. To Success

• Eight Top Sales Management Success Factors

Find many more useful articles in our Online Archive.

exclusively offers buyers pre-manufactured Silestone vanity tops, available in five of its most popular colors: Classic White, Charcoal Soapstone, Iconic Black, Jasmine Pearl and Grey Expo. These hues, coupled with James Martin’s more than 375 vanity designs, will take customization to a new level, offering hospitality design professionals and homeowners alike more than 5,000 different combinations. Throughout 2019, the partnership will be rolled out across the country’s 275 Ferguson showrooms and James Martin’s 2,500 dealers. For more information Click Here.

than 5,100 different potential color matches. The glue is suitable for seaming and edging solid surface, granite, quartz, and other engineered countertops and surfaces. It provides an even, consistent cure, is easy-to-apply and achieves aesthetically pleasing seams. It is Greenguard Certified low VOC, and usually ships the same day from eight strategically-located warehouses around the United States. Color matching charts and more information is available HERE.

notify the user if the unit was rotated during a measurement capture, in which case an error message appears on the tablet instructing the user to recapture the last point. Also included is a "Help" button with tips to avoid inadvertent unit movement, including lifting your hand off the laser when capturing a measurement and adjusting the tension on the unit’s rotation ring.The software update also includes improvements to features such as language translation, email and JobTracker, as well as some minor bug fixes. For more information click here.