Friday, July 21, 2023
Huali signs i4F drop-lock license agreement for production in USA, China and Vietnam plus an i4F CeraGrout license agreement for its US facility. i4F, a group of companies providing patents and technologies to the flooring industry, today announced that Huali Group companies have signed i4F license agreements for the production of SPC and LVT flooring in the United States, Vietnam and China. These cover i4F drop-lock installation technologies, and i4F CeraGrout, falling under i4F’s surface finishing technologies patent cluster. For the US market, Huali will combine the technologies on several product lines to deliver superior, imitation ceramic tiles, featuring an integrated grout that are much easier to install. End products will look incredibly real while removing the inconvenience linked to the installation and maintenance of traditional ceramics.
The Huali Group is one of world’s largest producers of SPC and LVT with over 2,000 employees. The company started production with i4F drop-lock at the beginning of 2023 at its manufacturing facilities located in USA, Vietnam and China and will begin production using CeraGrout technologies starting in July 2023. The technologies will feature on Huali’s SPC products.
i4F’s CeraGrout technology imitates perfectly the beauty of modern ‘rectified’ ceramics with a grout without the inconvenience linked to real ceramics. The technology enables much easier installation and replacements, delivering realistic, visible joints via integrated grout lines for both flooring and wall panels, in any color. Tiles and planks featuring i4F CeraGrout enhance visual aesthestics compared to a normal v-groove as well as deliver superior resistance to wear and tear, stains and chemical household agents. CeraGrout also enables the milling of an additional grout line in the middle of a tile or plank allowing two tile patterns on a single panel. This greatly facilitates the creation of staggered or straight patterns while halving installation time.
Philip Yuan, CEO of Huali said, “Retailers, professionals and consumers want easy to install, strong and water-resistant flooring. When you add the beauty of traditional ceramics into the mix, especially in bathrooms, wet rooms and kitchens, demand goes through the roof! We selected i4F’s technologies because they deliver meaningful, on-trend innovation and high quality features, making easy to install, ceramic looking products easier than ever to position to our customers and end-users.”
