Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies

The company has entered into certain commitments with suppliers which are of a customary nature. Commitments have been entered into relating to future expected requirements for such commodities as electricity, natural gas and its transportation services, fuel, air products, zinc, alloys and electrodes. Certain commitments contain provisions which require that the company “take or pay” for specified quantities at fixed prices without regard to actual usage for periods of up to 6 years for physical commodity requirements and commodity transportation requirements, and for up to 14 years for air products. The company utilized such “take or pay” requirements during the past three years under these contracts, except for certain air products at our Minnesota ironmaking operations which have been idle since May 2015. The company believes that production requirements will be such that consumption of the products or services purchased under these commitments will occur in the normal production process, other than certain air products related to Minnesota ironmaking operations during the idle period.

The company’s commitments for these agreements with “take or pay” or other similar commitment provisions for the years ending December 31 are as follows (in thousands):


2019	$	349,125
2020		113,636
2021		103,916
2022		95,899
2023		25,281
Thereafter		53,786
	$	741,643

Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies (Continued)

At December 31, 2018, the company has outstanding commitments of $155.1 million related to ongoing construction of property, plant, and equipment related primarily to steel operations. The company’s commitments for operating leases are discussed in Note 12.

The company is involved in various routine litigation matters, including administrative proceedings, regulatory proceedings, governmental investigations, environmental matters, and commercial and construction contract disputes, none of which are expected to have a material impact on the company’s financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity.