Description of the Business and Significant Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

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, 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 coating and processing lines. Steel operations accounted for 78% and 76% of the company’s consolidated external net sales during the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, and 76% of the company's consolidated external net sales during the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019.

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 7% and 12% of the company’s consolidated external net sales during the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and 10% and 12% of the company’s consolidated external net sales during the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, 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 9% of the company’s consolidated external net sales during the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively and 9% and 8% of the company’s consolidated external net sales during the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, 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 unsecured 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 or controlled subsidiaries, after elimination of intercompany accounts and transactions. Noncontrolling and redeemable noncontrolling interests represent the noncontrolling owner’s proportionate share in the equity, income, or losses of the company’s majority-owned or 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; allowances for credit losses 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, 2019.

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 and equivalents 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 $5.9 million, $5.5 million, $5.9 million, $6.2 million, $5.8 million, and $6.2 million at June 30, 2020, March 31, 2020, December 31, 2019, June 30, 2019, March 31, 2019, and December 31, 2018, 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 June 30, 2020, and December 31, 2019, (in thousands):

	June 30,		December 31,
	2020		2019
Steel Operations Segment	$	272,133	$	272,133
Metals Recycling Operations Segment		177,162		178,857
Steel Fabrication Operations Segment		1,925		1,925
	$	451,220	$	452,915

Metals Recycling Operations Segment goodwill decreased $1.7 million from December 31, 2019 to June 30, 2020, in recognition of the 2020 tax benefit related to the normal amortization of the component of OmniSource tax-deductible goodwill in excess of book goodwill.

Credit Losses

ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses and its subsequent corresponding updates (ASC 326), requires an entity to use a forward-looking expected loss model versus the incurred loss model for most financial instruments, including accounts receivable. The company adopted ASC 326 effective January 1, 2020, using the modified retrospective transition method, with no impact on the company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

The company is exposed to credit risk in the event of nonpayment of accounts receivable by customers. The company mitigates its exposure to credit risk, which it generally extends on an unsecured basis, by performing ongoing credit evaluations and taking further action if necessary, such as requiring letters of credit or other security interests to support the customer receivable. The allowance for credit losses for accounts receivable is based on the company’s reasonable estimate of known credit risks and historical experience, adjusted for current and anticipated economic and other pertinent factors affecting the company’s customers, that may differ from historical experience. Customer accounts receivable are written off when all collection efforts have been exhausted and the amounts are deemed uncollectible.

At June 30, 2020, we reported $844.1 million of accounts receivable, net of allowances for credit losses of $7.7 million. Changes in the allowance were not material for the three and six-month periods ended June 30, 2020.