Radio Stone Update
Radio Stone Update
California Silicosis Act Moves Forward
00:00 Brought to You By Quantra Quartz
00:19 Intro
00:33 California Silica Bill Advances
02:08 A Word from Quantra Quartz
03:21 LA County Sets June as Silica Awareness Month
05:25 Marmomac Sets Agenda for 2025
07:25 Artisan Group Holds 2025 "Showcase" Meeting
08:38 Strong Start to 2025 Hard-Surface Imports
11:19 ISFA Opens 2025 Awards Entries
12:46 Submit Hardscape North America Awards
14:13 Outro
14:41 Brought to You By Quantra Quartz
Radio Stone Update is presented on the second and fourth Wednesdays every month at 9 a.m. everywhere on Earth with the latest news and insights in hard surfaces. Check our archives at www.radiostoneupdate.com.
00:19
K. SCHIPPER: Hi, I’m K. Schipper with the latest in hard surfaces industry news from Radio Stone Update.
00:33
California’s latest effort to address the rapid rise of silicosis cases among stone fabricators is moving forward. Last week Senate Bill 20, entitled the Silicosis Training Outreach and Prevention or STOP Act, was approved in a 37-0 vote in the California state senate and sent on to the state assembly.
The bill, submitted by state Senator Caroline Menjivar in early January, is on the behalf of workers in her San Fernando Valley district, which was named ground zero for cases by the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health.
Sen. Menjivar noted that the San Fernando Valley continues to be the epicenter of silicosis cases in California.
“Even after Cal/OSHA adopted new permanent rules, cases continue to be on the rise. In fact, since I introduced the bill, over 80 new cases have been identified,” she said.
Senate Bill 20 would require the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) to:
· Adopt a training program on best practices related to fabrication activities;
· Develop a certification process for fabrication shops which reinforces Cal/OSHA’s safety standards and require workers to undergo a Department of Industrial Relations training program, and;
· Begin issuing three-year certificates to fabrication shops that meet DIR’s certification criteria.
SB 20 is expected to be referred to the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee where it could face a public hearing as early as late this month.
03:21
In response to the growing number of silicosis cases in California, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors proclaimed June as Silicosis Awareness Month.
Through May, the California Department of Public Health – the CDPH -- reported 322 cases of silicosis in the state, which have led to 31 lung transplants and 15 deaths. More than half of those cases have been in Los Angeles County, with the San Fernando Valley bearing the brunt of the disease.
The bulk of those cases have come in fabricators who cut, grind and polish engineered-stone slabs. The man-made materials produce a fine crystalline silica dust which can cause lung inflammation and scarring when inhaled.
There is no cure for silicosis. The only treatment is a lung transplant, which on average extends a person’s life by six years.
The motion approving June as Silicosis Awareness Month was spearheaded by Supervisors Lindsay Horvath and Hilda Solis. Horvath noted that the goal of the designation is more than just making people aware of what the disease is, and how they can be exposed to it.
“We also want them to know what they can do to protect themselves and what we are doing to protect their health and invest in treatment and care,” Horvath said.
Two years ago, the supervisors invested $500,000 in an intervention outreach and education program. They have also worked with the county’s departments of public health and health services to make sure testing is available.
Supervisor Horvath says L.A. County officials are looking into information and research regarding restricting the allowable silica percentage in engineered stone as a potential solution, and many manufacturers are beginning to offer lower-silica engineered stone.
“While I appreciate that people want to have beautiful things in their homes and in their businesses, we also need to protect people’s lives and safety, and we shouldn’t be putting people in harm’s way to achieve that,” Horvath said.
05:25
Marmomac 2025 is in the early stages of preparing for its 59th edition, set for Sept. 23-26 at Verona, Italy. This year’s event will emphasize materials, technology and culture.
As Europe’s premier international event for the natural stone supply chain, more than 1,400 exhibitors from more than 50 countries are expected, along with more than 50,000 stone professionals from 150 countries.
Veronafiere President Federico Bricolo, the show’s producer, noted that Marmomac is the international stage where natural stone became business, culture, innovation and relationships, as stone is one of the flagship industries of Made in Italy.
“This achievement is the result of a system-wide project involving companies, production districts, institutions and associations such as the ministries of Made in Italy and Foreign Affairs, as well as Confindustria Marmomacchine,” Bricolo said.
The 2025 edition of Marmomac aims to highlight all the elements of the event that tell the story of stone in its productive, technical and cultural dimensions. The three pillars will be showcased across 12 exhibition halls and eight outdoor display areas.
This year, the show will offer daily screenings of “Il Capo,” a film by Yuri Ancarani, filmed entirely in a marble quarry. First presented at the Venice Film Festival 15 years ago, from the quarry’s sounds will also come the first-ever playlist dedicated to the acoustic world of marble, from block extraction to sawing and lab work.
With Marmomac 2025, Italy continues to reinforce its global leadership, remaining in the top three across all sectors of the supply chain and ranking first in machinery and technology. For more information, go to www.marmomac.com
07:25
This year’s Artisan Showcase offered members of the Artisan Group a new format for exploring new tools, technologies and industry best practices.
Hosted by wholesaler UMI Stone at its Marbleton, Ga., showroom, the mid-May event served to inspire collaboration, spark innovation and celebrate craftsmanship among member of the Artisan Group, an elite network of independent stone fabrication professionals from across this country and Canada.
Attendees also received an update on silica regulations from the Natural Stone Institute and a report on advocacy for fabricators from International Surface Fabricators Association President Marissa Bankert.
UMI’s Matt DiNorcia called Artisan Group members some of the best in the business and working with them and the other event sponsors made this a great experience for his company.
“We were proud to host this year’s event and showcase our material and our growing presence on the national stage,” DiNorcia said.
“We are thrilled to have UMI as our material partner to the group. All our vendor-partners are instrumental in making our new sponsorship program successful,” Jon Lancto, executive director of the Artisan Group, concluded.
08:38
EMERSON SCHWARTZKOPF: This is Emerson Schwartzkopf. The $125 billion in customs value for U.S. hard-surface imports in this year’s first quarter sets a new record, beating the previous high mark set in 2022 by not quite $16 million.
Now I know that inflation-adjusting killjoys can say this really isn’t a record, and there’s merit in that. In that respect, the peak COVID bubble years of 2022 and 2021 are bigger … but 2025, properly adjusted for inflation, beats every other year since 2017.
Every hard-surface sector in this year’s first quarter finished ahead of the same time in 2022. The big boom came with the Other Stone sector – where quartzite is the mai
n mover – with the $159 million in this year’s first quarter beat 2024 by 34.9%. Quartz surfaces also gained well in value in 2024, with its $399 million moving up 17% from 2024
The big surges, however, came in shipment volume. The first-quarter 2025 total of 59.5 million square feet for quartz surfaces is 25% of the same time last year; Other Stone grew by half, from nearly 104 thousand metric tons in 2024 to nearly 156 thousand metric tons this year.
Marble also ticked up in volume, gaining 11.7% from the start of last year to 161,641 metric tons as of the end of this March. Granite came in as the only outlier, dropping 5.7% from 2024 to a total of not quite 206 thousand metric tons in first-quarter 2025.
All of these figures, though, represent the market before the announcement of new tariffs in early April. We won’t be seeing the results of the on-then-paused tariffs for another month or so with the data reported from the U.S. International Trade Commission.
You can be among the first to know what’s happening with hard-surface imports by reading Hard-Surface Report, published every month by Stone Update. To learn more, go to www.hardsurface.report.com.
11:19
K.SCHIPPER: Submissions are now open for the International Surface Fabricators Association’s 2025 ISFA Awards. The awards celebrate outstanding achievement in design, fabrication and installation of surfacing materials.
Awards are given in seven categories honoring exceptional commercial and residential projects of various sizes, as well as sustainability-driven designs, and individual accomplishments within the surface fabrication industry.
Categories include:
· Commercial Excellence – two awards for projects under and over $100,000;
· Residential Excellence – two awards for projects under and over $20,000;
· Sustainable Project of the Year;
· Fabricator of the Year, and;
· ISFA Hall of Fame Inductee
Entries must include a project summary, list of materials used, detailed project descriptions, high-quality images and photo captions.
The awards program is open to all ISFA fabricator members, and associate partner members may nominate fabricators. Eligible projects must have been completed within two years prior to the submission deadline, which is July 31.
Winners will be announced at the ISFA Annual Conference, which will be held Nov. 4-6, 2025. For more information, go to www.ISFAnow.org
12:46
And, finally, entries are also now being accepted for the 2025 Hardscape North America (HNA) Awards.
Award categories include:
*Porcelain Paver Pavement
*Adhered Thin Veneers
*Combination of Hardscape Products
*Natural Stone Pavement
*Outdoor Living Features, and
*Vintage Installation
Each entry will be evaluated by a panel of industry experts based on design excellence, quality of construction, craftmanship, compatibility with related materials and systems and achievement of project objectives.
The show is sponsored by the Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association. Robert Thomas, association president and CEO, says, “This program not only recognizes technical expertise and design ingenuity, it also showcases how hardscape installations enhance the built environments across the U.S. and Canada.”
Entries will be accepted through Aug. 13. The awards will be presented during the Hardscape North America show on Oct. 22-24 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky. The show is endorsed by the Natural Stone Institute and the Brick Industry Association.
For complete entry guidelines, submission requirements and to learn more about the 2025 HNA Awards competition, go to www.hardscapeNA.com/hnaawards.
14:13
Remember, our online newsletter, Slab & Sheet, is available on alternate Wednesdays. For a transcript of this broadcast, go to www.radiostoneupdate.com. I’m K. Schipper for Radio Stone Update, and we’ll see you here again soon.