Description of the Business and Significant Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Description of the Business and Significant Accounting Policies

Description of the Business and Significant Accounting Policies

Note 1. Description of the Business and Significant Accounting Policies

Description of the Business

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI), together with its subsidiaries (the company), is a domestic manufacturer of steel products and metals recycler. The company has three reportable segments: steel operations, metals recycling operations, and steel fabrication operations.

Steel Operations Segment. Steel operations include the company’s Butler Flat Roll Division, Columbus Flat Roll Division, The Techs galvanizing lines, Heartland Flat Roll Division, United Steel Supply (acquired 75% equity interest March 1, 2019), Structural and Rail Division, Engineered Bar Products Division, Vulcan Threaded Products, Inc., Roanoke Bar Division, Steel of West Virginia, and Iron Dynamics, a liquid pig iron (scrap substitute) production facility that supplies solely the Butler Flat Roll Division. These operations include electric arc furnace steel mills, producing steel from ferrous scrap and scrap substitutes, utilizing continuous casting, automated rolling mills, with several downstream coating and bar processing lines. Steel operations accounted for 76% and 77% of the company’s consolidated external net sales during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and 76% and 75% during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Metals Recycling Operations Segment. Metals recycling operations consists solely of OmniSource, LLC (OmniSource), and includes both ferrous and nonferrous processing, transportation, marketing, brokerage, and scrap management services. Metals recycling operations accounted for 11% and 12% of the company’s consolidated external net sales during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and 12% and 14% during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Steel Fabrication Operations Segment. Steel fabrication operations include the company’s New Millennium Building Systems’ joist and deck plants located throughout the United States, and in Northern Mexico. Revenues from these plants are generated from the fabrication of trusses, girders, steel joists and steel deck used within the non-residential construction industry. Steel fabrication operations accounted for 10% and 8% of the company’s consolidated external net sales during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and 9% and 8% of the company’s consolidated external net sales during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Other. Other operations consists of subsidiary operations that are below the quantitative thresholds required for reportable segments and primarily consist of smaller joint ventures, and the idle Minnesota ironmaking operations. Also included in “Other” are certain unallocated corporate accounts, such as the company’s senior secured credit facility, senior notes, certain other investments and certain profit sharing expenses.

Significant Accounting Policies

Principles of Consolidation. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of SDI, together with its wholly- and majority-owned/controlled subsidiaries, after elimination of intercompany accounts and transactions. Noncontrolling interests represent the noncontrolling owner’s proportionate share in the equity, income, or losses of the company’s majority-owned/controlled consolidated subsidiaries.

Use of Estimates. These consolidated financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, and accordingly, include amounts that require management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and in the notes thereto. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include the carrying value of property, plant and equipment, intangible assets, and goodwill; valuation allowances for trade receivables, inventories and deferred income tax assets; unrecognized tax benefits; potential environmental liabilities; and litigation claims and settlements. Actual results may differ from these estimates and assumptions.

In the opinion of management, these financial statements reflect all normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the interim period results. These consolidated financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto included in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Note 1. Description of the Business and Significant Accounting Policies (Continued)

Cash and Equivalents, and Restricted Cash

Cash and equivalents include all highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less at the date of acquisition. Restricted cash is primarily funds held in escrow as required by various insurance and government organizations. The balance of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash in the consolidated statements of cash flows includes restricted cash of $5.5 million, $6.2 million, $6.2 million, $5.8 million, $6.0 million, and $6.4 million at September 30, 2019, June 30, 2019, December 31, 2018, September 30, 2018, June 30, 2018, and December 31, 2017, respectively, which are recorded in Other Assets (noncurrent) in the company’s consolidated balance sheets.

Goodwill

The company’s goodwill consisted of the following at September 30, 2019, and December 31, 2018, (in thousands):

	September 30,		December 31,
	2019		2018
Steel Operations Segment	$	359,283	$	245,473
Metals Recycling Operations Segment		179,705		182,247
Steel Fabrication Operations Segment		1,925		1,925
	$	540,913	$	429,645

The company acquired a 75% equity interest in United Steel Supply on March 1, 2019 (refer to Note 2 Acquisition – United Steel Supply, LLC), resulting in a preliminary purchase price allocation in which $113.8 million of goodwill has been recorded in the Steel Operations Segment at September 30, 2019. Metals Recycling Operations segment goodwill decreased $2.5 million from December 31, 2018 to September 30, 2019, in recognition of the 2019 tax benefit related to the normal amortization of the component of tax-deductible goodwill in excess of book goodwill.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses, and it’s subsequent corresponding updates: which requires an entity to use a forward-looking expected loss model versus the current incurred loss model for most financial instruments, including accounts receivable. This new guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019, but can be early adopted. The company anticipates adopting ASU 2016-13 on January 1, 2020. The company is working through its adoption plan to evaluate policies, processes and systems to determine the impact ASU 2016-13 will have in its consolidated financial statements and related disclosure.