Hyundai L&C Participates in the Largest ‘Kitchen & Bath Show’ in the U.S.

Hyundai L&C is cementing its position as a global comprehensive building-materials company, having participated for five consecutive years in ‘KBIS,’ the largest kitchen and bath show in North America.

Hyundai L&C, a comprehensive building-materials company affiliated with Hyundai Department Store Group, took part in ‘KBIS (The Kitchen & Bath Industry Show) 2019,’ held from February 19 to 21 (local time) in Las Vegas, USA. KBIS is the largest kitchen and bath show in North America, with some 600 companies from around the world participating. Hyundai L&C has now taken part a total of 10 times, including five consecutive years since 2015.

At this exhibition, Hyundai L&C displayed a total of 10 new products, including its new engineered stone products ‘Aura’ and ‘Eden’ under ‘Khanstone (export name: Hanstone),’ which uses 99%-purity quartz, as well as ‘Oyster Pearl,’ a new product in its MMA (methyl methacrylate)-based artificial marble ‘Hanex.’

In particular, the ‘Unearthed Collection,’ the premium line of ‘Khanstone,’ expresses natural patterns indistinguishable from natural marble to the naked eye, earning favorable reviews during the show from officials of local architecture and interior firms attending KBIS.

The Unearthed Collection consists of three types—Coast, Terra, and Storm—and is characterized by patterns similar to natural marble and textures rendered to look like flowing water. These products achieve their intricate designs using the robotic equipment of Italian stone-processing equipment maker ‘Breton,’ which was introduced on the second production line at the Canada Khanstone plant.

An official from Hyundai L&C explained, “We plan to newly supply the Khanstone and Hanex products showcased at this exhibition to some 1,000 companies in the U.S. during the first half of this year.” Previously, after participating in ‘KBIS 2018’ last year, Hyundai L&C supplied Khanstone and Hanex to some 2,500 local companies.

In addition to participating in global exhibitions, Hyundai L&C is also expanding its Khanstone and Hanex production capacity to increase its share of the global interior stone market.

This month, the ‘Texas Hanex plant,’ established as a joint venture with U.S. building-materials company Wilsonart, goes into full operation. As a result, annual Hanex production is expected to increase by more than 40% compared to the volume previously produced at the ‘Sejong Hanex plant.’

In the case of Khanstone, following the ‘first production line at the Canada Khanstone plant (operational in 2009),’ a ‘second production line (operational in 2017)’ has been additionally built and is now in operation. Combined with the output of the ‘Sejong Khanstone plant,’ which has produced Khanstone since 2004, Hyundai L&C’s Khanstone ranks around fourth in the global industry.

Choi Kyu-hwan, head of Hyundai L&C’s Interior Stone Business Division (executive director), said, “With the worldwide trend toward more upscale interiors, premium finishing materials such as engineered stone and artificial marble are drawing attention,” adding, “Going forward, we plan to step up our push into the domestic interior market, which is growing 20% each year, in collaboration with our group affiliate Hyundai Livart.”