ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Nov. 30, 2015

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Accounting principles

Accounting Principles

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP") on a basis consistent with that used in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2015 filed by Commercial Metals Company ("CMC", and together with its consolidated subsidiaries, the "Company") with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and include all normal recurring adjustments necessary to present fairly the condensed consolidated balance sheets and the condensed consolidated statements of earnings, comprehensive income, cash flows and stockholders' equity for the periods indicated. These notes should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2015. The results of operations for the three month period are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

Effective September 1, 2015, the Company elected to change its accounting method for valuing its U.S. inventories that used the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method to the weighted average cost method for the Americas Mills, Americas Recycling, and Americas Fabrication segments and to the specific identification method for its steel trading division headquartered in the U.S. in its International Marketing and Distribution segment. At September 1, 2015, 51% of the Company's total net inventories were valued using LIFO. The Company believes the changes are preferable because weighted average cost or specific identification (1) results in better matching of revenues and expenses and better reflects the current value of inventory in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet, (2) more closely aligns with the physical flow of these inventories, (3) are the methods the Company uses to monitor the financial results of these segments and this division for operational and financial planning, (4) eliminates the manual LIFO calculation and quarterly LIFO estimation process resulting in greater precision in determining quarterly cost of goods sold and inventory balances and reducing the administrative burden to report inventories because the information systems calculate inventory using the weighted average cost or the specific identification methods, and (5) improves comparability with the Company’s peers. Additionally, the Company believes that the change to using weighted average cost at its Americas segments increases consistency in inventory costing as its International Mill segment currently uses the weighted average cost method. The Company applied this change in accounting principle retrospectively to all prior periods presented herein. The cumulative effect of these accounting changes resulted in a $124.2 million increase in retained earnings as of September 1, 2014.

Also effective September 1, 2015, the Company elected to change its accounting method for valuing its inventories in its International Marketing and Distribution segment, except for its steel trading division headquartered in the U.S., from the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method to the specific identification method. At September 1, 2015, 38% of the Company's total net inventories were valued using the FIFO method. The Company believes the change from FIFO to specific identification is preferable because it (1) results in better matching of revenues with expenses, (2) more closely aligns with the physical flow of these inventories, and (3) is the method the Company uses to monitor the financial results of the segment for operational and financial planning. Because this change in accounting principle was immaterial in all prior periods, it was not applied retrospectively. The change did not have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the quarter ended November 30, 2015.

Recent accounting pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In the first quarter of fiscal 2016, the Company adopted guidance issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) changing the requirements for reporting discontinued operations if the disposal of a component of an entity, or a group of components of an entity, represents a strategic shift that has, or will have, a major effect on an entity's operations and financial results. The guidance requires expanded disclosures for discontinued operations and also requires entities to disclose the pre-tax profit or loss of an individually significant component of an entity that does not qualify for discontinued operations reporting. The guidance changed the Company’s practice of assessing discontinued operations and the presentation and disclosure in the Company’s condensed financial statements. The guidance was adopted on a prospective basis.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2016, the Company adopted guidance issued by the FASB requiring entities to measure inventory, other than that measured using LIFO or the retail inventory method, at the lower of cost and net realizable value, which is defined as estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. The guidance changes the Company's practice of measuring inventory at the lower of cost or market, which included net realizable value, replacement cost and net realizable value plus normal profit margin. The guidance was adopted on a prospective basis.

In November 2015, the FASB issued guidance requiring deferred tax liabilities and assets to be classified as noncurrent in a classified statement of financial position. The requirement that current deferred tax liabilities and assets of a tax-paying component of an entity be offset and presented as a single amount is not affected by this guidance. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2016 with early adoption permitted. The Company plans to adopt this guidance prospectively in the second quarter of fiscal 2016. The Company does not expect this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In September 2015, the FASB issued guidance requiring the acquirer in a business combination to recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. Additionally, the effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization or other income effects, if any, as a result of the change to the provisional amounts, must be calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2015 with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In April 2015, the FASB issued guidance clarifying the circumstances under which an entity would account for fees paid in a cloud computing arrangement as a license of internal-use software. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2015. The Company does not expect this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In April 2015, the FASB issued guidance requiring an entity to present debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2015 with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2015, the FASB issued guidance modifying the evaluation of whether limited partnerships and similar legal entities are variable interest entities or voting interest entities. This guidance also eliminates the presumption that a general partner should consolidate a limited partnership and affects the consolidation analysis of reporting entities that are involved with variable interest entities, particularly those that have fee arrangements and related party relationships. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2015 with early adoption permitted. Entities may elect to apply this guidance either on a retrospective or a modified retrospective basis. The Company does not expect this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In January 2015, the FASB issued guidance eliminating the concept of extraordinary items. Under this guidance an entity will no longer be allowed to separately disclose extraordinary items, net of tax, in the income statement after income from continuing operations if an event or transaction is unusual in nature and occurs infrequently. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2015 with early adoption permitted. The Company plans to adopt this guidance prospectively. The Company does not expect this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In August 2014, the FASB issued guidance requiring management to evaluate whether there are conditions and events that raise substantial doubt about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern and to provide disclosures in certain circumstances. The new guidance was issued to reduce diversity in the timing and content of footnote disclosures. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company does not expect this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In August 2014, the FASB issued guidance providing a measurement alternative to the existing fair value measurement guidance for reporting entities that consolidate a collateralized financing entity in which (1) the financial assets and financial liabilities are measured at fair value except for those incidental financial assets and financial liabilities with their carrying values that approximate fair values and (2) the changes in the fair values of those financial assets and financial liabilities are reflected in earnings. When the measurement alternative is elected, the financial assets and liabilities of a collateralized financing entity will be measured using the more observable of the fair value of the financial assets and the fair value of the financial liabilities. This guidance is effective for public business entities for annual periods, and for interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted as of the beginning of an annual period. The Company does not expect this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In June 2014, the FASB issued guidance requiring entities to account for a performance target as a performance condition if the target affects vesting and could be achieved after the requisite service period. The new guidance did not introduce additional disclosure requirements and was issued to resolve diversity in practice. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim reporting periods therein, beginning after December 15, 2015. The Company currently accounts for such performance targets in a manner consistent with the new guidance and does not expect this guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued guidance requiring entities to recognize revenue from contracts with customers by applying a five-step model in accordance with the core principle to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In addition, this guidance specifies the accounting for some costs to obtain or fulfill a contract with a customer and expands disclosure requirements for revenue recognition. In August 2015, the FASB issued guidance deferring the effective date of this guidance to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods therein. Entities have the option to adopt this guidance either retrospectively or through a modified retrospective transition method. This new standard will supersede existing revenue guidance and affect the Company's revenue recognition process and the presentations or disclosures of the Company's consolidated financial statements and footnotes. The Company is currently evaluating the impact this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements.

Fair value measurement

The Company has established a fair value hierarchy which prioritizes the inputs to the valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three levels. These levels are determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement. Levels within the hierarchy are defined as follows:

Level 1 - Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities;

Level 2 - Quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets (other than those included in Level 1) which are observable, either directly or indirectly; and

Level 3 - Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.

Uncertain income tax positions

The Company's policy classifies interest recognized on an underpayment of income taxes and any statutory penalties recognized on a tax position as income tax expense, and the balances at the end of a reporting period are recorded as part of the current or noncurrent reserve for uncertain income tax positions.