EMPLOYEE BENEFITS - POSTRETIREMENT

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Disclosures [Abstract]

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS - POSTRETIREMENT

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS - POSTRETIREMENT

The Company has a postretirement healthcare benefits plan that provides coverage for a majority of its U.S. employees hired prior to January 1, 2013, and their dependents should they elect to maintain such coverage upon retirement. Covered employees become eligible for participation when they qualify for retirement while working for the Company. Participation in the plan is voluntary and requires participants to make contributions toward the cost of the plan, as determined by the Company.

The net periodic benefit costs charged to operating expenses, which are valued at the measurement date of January 1 and recognized evenly throughout the year, consisted of the following components (in thousands of dollars):

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2017			2016
Service cost	$	1,897		$	2,059
Interest cost	2,149			2,464
Expected return on assets	(2,857		)	(2,528		)
Amortization of unrecognized losses	(655		)	32
Amortization of prior service credits	(1,622		)	(1,672		)
Net periodic benefit costs	$	(1,088	)	$	355

The Company has established a Group Benefit Trust to fund the plan and process benefit payments. The funding of the trust is an estimated amount which is intended to allow the maximum deductible contribution under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC), as amended.  There are zero minimum funding requirements and the Company intends to follow its practice of funding the maximum deductible contribution under the IRC. The Company did not make a contribution to the trust during the three months ended March 31, 2017.