Property, Plant and Equipment

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, plant and equipment consist of the following:


(In thousands)	March 31 2023		December 31 2022
Land	$	71,987	$	72,020
Land improvements	16,843		16,750
Buildings and improvements	219,332		217,926
Machinery and equipment	1,539,171		1,513,238
Uncompleted construction	85,421		84,472
Gross property, plant and equipment	1,932,754		1,904,406
Less: Accumulated depreciation	(1,267,563)		(1,247,531)
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	665,191	$	656,875

In the third quarter of 2020, a customer of HE in China ceased steel making operations at its steel mill site in order to relocate the operations to a new site, as a result of a government mandate to improve environmental conditions of the area. The Company continues to provide services to the same customer at the new site. The net book value of HE's idled equipment associated with the previous location is approximately $18 million. The customer has entered into an agreement with the government where it will receive compensation for the losses the customer has incurred as a result of the forced shutdown. The Company has continued discussions with the customer regarding compensation, which are expected to be protracted. While the customer initially indicated that they will not provide compensation, the Company and the customer continue to discuss. In addition, there may be other avenues of pursuing recovery, including seeking relief directly from the local government. At this point, considering the ongoing discussions with the customer, and other avenues, the Company believes it will recover the book value of its equipment and thus does not believe it has an asset impairment as of March 31, 2023. However, the Company will continue to evaluate changes in facts and circumstances and will record any impairment charge, when and if indicated.