
2.	SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Rayonier and its subsidiaries, in which it has a majority ownership or controlling interest. All intercompany balances and transactions are eliminated. For income tax purposes, the Company files two U.S. federal income tax returns, one for REIT operations and a consolidated filing for TRS operations, as well as numerous state, local and foreign income tax returns.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and to disclose contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. There are risks inherent in estimating and therefore actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include time deposits with original maturities of three months or less.

Inventory

Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or market. The costs of manufactured performance fibers are determined on the first-in, first-out basis. Other products are valued on an average cost basis. Inventory costs include material, labor and manufacturing overhead. Physical counts of inventories are taken at least annually. The need for a provision for estimated losses from obsolete, excess or slow-moving inventories is reviewed periodically.

HBU real estate properties that are expected to be sold within one year are included in inventory, while properties that are expected to be sold after one year are included in "Other assets."

Equity Method Investments

The Company accounts for its 26 percent interest in its joint venture ("JV") in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles under the equity method of accounting. Rayonier does not have a controlling financial interest but exerts significant influence over the JV’s operating policies as manager of the JV.

Timber

Timber is stated at the lower of cost or market value. Costs relating to acquiring, planting and growing timber including real estate taxes, lease rental payments, site preparation and direct support costs relating to facilities, vehicles and supplies are capitalized. Payroll costs are capitalized only for time spent on these activities, while interest or any other soft costs aside from those mentioned above are not capitalized. Such accumulated costs attributed to merchantable timber are charged to cost of goods sold (depletion) at the time the timber is harvested or when the underlying timberland is sold based on the relationship of timber sold to the estimated volume of currently merchantable timber. Upon the acquisition of timberland, the Company makes a determination on whether to combine the newly acquired merchantable timber with an existing depletion pool or to create a new, separate pool. This determination is based on the geographic location of the new timber, the customers/markets that will be served and the species mix. If the acquisition is similar, the cost of the acquired timber is combined into an existing depletion pool and a new depletion rate is calculated for the pool. This determination and depletion rate adjustment normally occurs in the quarter following the acquisition, concurrent with the harvesting of the acquired timber.

Property, Plant, Equipment and Depreciation

Property, plant and equipment additions are recorded at cost, including applicable freight, taxes, interest, construction and installation costs. Pulp mill assets are depreciated using the units-of-production method. The Company depreciates its non-production Performance Fiber assets, including office, lab and transportation equipment, using the straight-line depreciation method over 3 to 25 years. In addition, all of the assets at the Company’s sawmills are depreciated using the straight-line method over 3 to 15 years. Buildings and land improvements are depreciated using the straight-line method over 15 to 35 years and 5 to 30 years, respectively.

Gains and losses on the retirement of assets are included in operating income. Long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets that are held and used is measured by net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the fair value of the assets, which is based on a discounted cash flow model. Assets to be disposed of are reported at the lower of the carrying amount or fair value less cost to sell.

Fair Value Measurements

Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. A three-level hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value was established as follows:

Level 1 — Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 — Observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data.

Level 3 — Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities. This includes certain pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies and similar techniques that use significant unobservable inputs.

Foreign Currency Translation

The functional currency of the Company’s New Zealand-based operations and its JV investment is the New Zealand dollar. All assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate in effect at the respective balance sheet dates with the resulting translation gain or loss recorded as a separate component of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income/(Loss), ("AOCI"), within Shareholders’ Equity.

Financial Instruments

The Company is exposed to various market risks, including changes in interest rates and commodity prices. The Company’s objective is to partially mitigate the economic impact of these market risks. Derivatives are used, as noted below, in accordance with policies and procedures approved by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors and are managed by a senior executive committee, whose responsibilities include initiating, managing and monitoring resulting exposures. The Company does not enter into such financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

Derivative financial instruments such as commodity swap agreements are recognized in the financial statements and measured at fair value regardless of the purpose or intent for holding them. Transactions that provide for the forward purchase or sale of raw materials are not included in the financial statements until physical delivery of the product, as these transactions are done in the normal course of business and qualify for the normal purchases and sales scope exception provided under generally accepted accounting principles.

The Company periodically enters into commodity forward contracts to fix some of its fuel oil and natural gas costs at its Performance Fibers mills. The forward contracts partially mitigate the risk of a change in Performance Fibers margins resulting from an increase or decrease in fuel oil and natural gas prices. The Company’s commodity agreements do not qualify for hedge accounting and are marked to market. Gains or losses resulting from the valuation are recorded in "Other operating income, net."

Revenue Recognition

The Company generally recognizes revenues when the following criteria are met: (i) persuasive evidence of an agreement exists, (ii) delivery has occurred, (iii) the Company’s price to the buyer is fixed and determinable, and (iv) collectibility is reasonably assured.

Revenue from the sale of timber is recorded when title passes to the buyer. Timber sales are either sales of delivered logs or stumpage sales. Stumpage sales in the Atlantic, Gulf States and Northern regions are primarily made on a pay-as-cut basis. These contracts generally require a minimum 15 percent initial payment and title and risk of loss are transferred when the timber is cut. Sales of delivered logs generally do not require an initial payment and are made to third-party customers on open credit terms.

Real estate sales are recorded when title passes, full payment or a minimum down payment of 25 percent is received and full collectibility is assured. If a down payment of less than 25 percent is received at closing or if full collectibility is not reasonably assured, the Company typically records revenue based on the installment method or cost recovery method.

Revenue from domestic sales of Performance Fibers products is recorded when title passes which, depending on the contract, is either at time of shipment or when the customer receives goods. Foreign sales of Performance Fibers products are recorded when the customer or agent receives the goods and title passes.

Lumber sales are recorded when the goods are shipped and title passes.

The Company’s Other segment includes log trading sales. Revenue is recorded when the goods are received by the customer and title passes.

Environmental Costs

Rayonier expenses environmental costs related to ongoing businesses resulting from current operations. Expenditures that meaningfully extend the life or increase the efficiency of operating assets are capitalized.

The Company has established liabilities to assess, remediate and monitor sites related to dispositions or discontinued operations from which no current or future benefit is discernible. These obligations are established based on payments over the next 20 years and require significant estimates to determine the proper amount at any point in time. Generally, monitoring expense obligations are fixed once remediation projects are at or near completion. The projected period, from 2013 through 2032, reflects the time in which potential future costs are both estimable and probable. As new information becomes available, these cost estimates are updated and the Company adjusts its recorded liabilities appropriately. Environmental liabilities are accounted for on an undiscounted basis and are reflected in current and non-current "Liabilities for dispositions and discontinued operations" in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Employee Benefit Plans

The determination of expense and funding requirements for Rayonier's four defined benefit pension plans, its unfunded excess pension plan and its postretirement health care and life insurance plans are largely based on a number of actuarial assumptions. The key assumptions include discount rate, return on assets, salary increases, health care cost trends, mortality rates, longevity and service lives of employees. See Note 20 — Employee Benefit Plans for assumptions used to determine benefit obligations, the net periodic benefit cost and health care cost trend rates for the year ending December 31, 2012.

Periodic pension and other postretirement expense is included in "Cost of sales" and "Selling and general expenses" in the Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income. At December 31, 2012 and 2011 all pension plans were in a liability position due to an underfunded status. The estimated amount to be paid in the next 12 months is recorded in "Accrued payroll and benefits" on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, with the remainder recorded as a long-term liability in "Pension and other postretirement benefits". Changes in the funded status of the Company's plans are recorded through comprehensive income (loss) in the year in which the changes occur. See Note 20 — Employee Benefit Plans for additional information.

Income Taxes

The Company uses the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases, operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured pursuant to tax laws using rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which the temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The Company recognizes the effect of a change in income tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities in the Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income in the period that includes the enactment date of the rate change. The Company records a valuation allowance to reduce the carrying amounts of deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that such deferred tax assets will not be realized.

In determining the provision for income taxes, the Company computes an annual effective income tax rate based on annual income by legal entity, permanent differences between book and tax, and statutory income tax rates by jurisdiction. Inherent in the effective tax rate is an assessment of the ultimate outcome of uncertain tax positions. The Company adjusts its annual effective tax rate as additional information on outcomes or events becomes available. Discrete items such as taxing authority examination findings or legislative changes are recognized in the period in which they occur.

The Company’s income tax returns are subject to audit by U.S. federal, state and foreign taxing authorities. In evaluating the tax benefits associated with various tax filing positions, the Company records a tax benefit for an uncertain tax position if it is more-likely-than-not to be realized upon ultimate settlement of the issue. The Company records a liability for an uncertain tax position that does not meet this criterion. The Company adjusts its liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits in the period in which it is determined the issue is settled with the taxing authorities, the statute of limitations expires for the relevant taxing authority to examine the tax position or when new facts or information becomes available. Liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits are included in "Other current liabilities" and "Other non-current liabilities" in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. See Note 8 — Income Taxes for additional information.

Reclassifications

Certain 2011 and 2010 amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current year presentation.

New or Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-04, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. This guidance changes certain fair value measurement principles, enhances the disclosure requirements for level 3 fair value measurements and requires the classification of all assets and liabilities measured at fair value in the fair value hierarchy, including those assets and liabilities which are not recorded at fair value but for which fair value is disclosed. The standard was effective for Rayonier's first quarter 2012 Form 10-Q filing and was applied prospectively. See Note 4 — Fair Value Measurements for our disclosures required under this guidance.

In June 2011, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05, Presentation of Comprehensive Income. This standard eliminates the current option to report other comprehensive income and its components in the statement of changes in equity. An entity can elect to present items of net income and other comprehensive income in one continuous statement or in two separate, but consecutive, statements. Each component of net income and each component of other comprehensive income, together with totals for comprehensive income and its two parts - net income and other comprehensive income, would need to be displayed under either alternative. The statements would need to be presented with equal prominence as the other primary financial statements. The standard was effective for Rayonier's first quarter 2012 Form 10-Q filing. Since Rayonier reports a consolidated statement of income and comprehensive income for each reporting period, the Company's application of this guidance had no effect on the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

In February 2013, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2013-02, Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. This standard requires reporting, in one place, information about reclassifications out of AOCI by component. An entity is required to present, either on the face of the financial statements or in the notes, significant amounts reclassified out of AOCI by the respective line items of net income, but only if the amount is reclassified in its entirety in the same reporting period. For amounts that are not required to be reclassified to net income in their entirety, an entity is required to cross-reference to other currently required disclosures that provide additional detail about those amounts. The information required by this standard must be presented in one place, either parenthetically on the face of the financial statements by income statement line item or in a note. This standard will be effective for Rayonier's first quarter 2013 Form 10-Q filing. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this pronouncement on its consolidated financial statements.