Summary of significant accounting policies (Policies)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Nature of our business	Nature of our business. Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc. (“KCI” or “Keystone”) (OTCQB: KYCN) is a leading domestic producer of steel fabricated wire products, industrial wire and wire rod. We also manufacture wire mesh, coiled rebar, steel bar and other products. Our products are used in the agricultural, industrial, cold drawn, construction, transportation, original equipment manufacturer and retail consumer markets. We are vertically integrated, converting substantially all of our products from billet produced in our steel mini-mill.
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation. Our Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Keystone and our majority-owned subsidiaries. All material intercompany accounts and balances have been eliminated. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current year presentation. Our fiscal year is either 52 or 53 weeks and ends on the Sunday closest to December 31 of each year. 2010 was a 53-week year while 2011 and 2012 were each 52-week years. Unless otherwise indicated, references in this report to “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc. and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole.
Management's Estimates	Management’s Estimates. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results may differ from previously estimated amounts under different assumptions or conditions.
Accounts receivable	Accounts receivable. We provide an allowance for doubtful accounts for known and estimated potential losses arising from our sales to customers based on a periodic review of these accounts.
Inventories and cost of sales	Inventories and cost of sales. We state inventories at lower of cost or market net of allowance for obsolete and slow-moving inventories. We generally base inventory costs for all inventory categories on the first-in, first-out method or an average cost that approximates the first-in, first-out method. Inventories include the costs for raw materials and the costs to manufacture raw materials into finished goods. Depending on the inventory’s stage of completion, our manufacturing costs can include the costs of packing and finishing, utilities, maintenance and depreciation, inbound and outbound shipping and handling, and salaries and benefits associated with our manufacturing process. We allocate fixed manufacturing overhead based on normal production capacity. Unallocated overhead costs resulting from periods with abnormally low production levels are charged to expense as incurred. As inventory is sold to third parties, we recognize the cost of sales in the same period the sale occurs. We periodically review our inventory for estimated obsolescence or instances when inventory is no longer marketable for its intended use, and we record any write-down equal to the difference between the cost of inventory and its estimated net realizable value based on assumptions about alternative uses, market conditions and other factors.
Property, plant and equipment and depreciation expense	Property, plant and equipment and depreciation expense. Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation for financial reporting purposes is computed using principally the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of 10 to 30 years for buildings and improvements and three to 15 years for machinery and equipment. Accelerated depreciation methods are used for income tax purposes, as permitted. Depreciation expense for financial reporting purposes was $12.1 million, $11.2 million and $11.4 million during 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively. Upon sale or retirement of an asset, the related cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any gain or loss is recognized in income currently. We expense expenditures for maintenance, repairs and minor renewals as incurred, including planned major maintenance. We capitalize expenditures for major improvements. We capitalize interest costs related to major long-term capital projects and renewals as a component of construction costs. We did not capitalize any material interest costs in 2010, 2011 or 2012. We perform impairment tests when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of our property, plant and equipment may not be recoverable. We consider all relevant factors. We perform the impairment test by comparing the estimated future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset to the asset's net carrying value to determine if an impairment exists.
Long-term debt and deferred financing costs	Long-term debt and deferred financing costs. We state long-term debt net of any unamortized original issue premium or discount. We classify amortization of deferred financing costs and any premium or discount associated with the issuance of indebtedness in interest expense, and compute such amortization by the interest method over the term of the applicable issue.
Pension plans and other postretirement benefits	Pension plans and other postretirement benefits. Accounting and funding policies for our pension plans and other postretirement benefits (“OPEB”) are described in Note 6.
Environmental liabilities	Environmental liabilities. We record liabilities related to environmental remediation when estimated future expenditures are probable and reasonably estimable. If we are unable to determine that a single amount in an estimated range of probable future expenditures is more likely, we record the minimum amount of the range. Such accruals are adjusted as further information becomes available or circumstances change. We do not discount costs of future expenditures for environmental remediation obligations to their present value due to the uncertain timeframe of payout. We expense any legal costs related to environmental remediation as incurred. We record recoveries of environmental remediation costs from other parties as assets when their receipt is deemed probable. We did not have any such assets recorded at December 31, 2011 or 2012. See Note 7.
Income taxes	Income taxes. In August 2011, we became a member of Contran’s consolidated U.S. federal income tax group (the “Contran Tax Group”) pursuant to Contran’s purchase of additional shares of our common stock which resulted in Contran’s ownership interest increasing to more than 80%. See Note 10. We also file consolidated income tax returns with Contran in various U.S. state jurisdictions. As a member of the Contran Tax Group, we are a party to a tax sharing agreement with Contran which provides that, beginning in August 2011, we compute our tax provision for U.S. income taxes on a separate-company basis using the tax elections made by Contran. Pursuant to the tax sharing agreement, we make payments to, or receive payments from, Contran in amounts we would have paid to or received from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or the applicable state tax authority had we not been a member of the Contran Tax Group for all periods after August 2011. We made net payments to Contran for income taxes of $.2 million and $9.4 million in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the income tax and financial reporting carrying amounts of assets and liabilities. We periodically evaluate our deferred tax assets and adjust any related valuation allowance based on the estimate of the amount of such deferred tax assets which we believe does not meet the more-likely-than-not recognition criteria. We record a reserve for uncertain tax positions for tax positions where we believe it is more-likely-than-not our position will not prevail with the applicable tax authorities. Our reserve for uncertain tax positions was nil in each of 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Net sales	Net sales. We record sales when products have shipped and title and other risks and rewards of ownership have passed to the customer. We include amounts charged to customers for shipping and handling in net sales. Our sales are stated net of volume rebates and discounts for price and early payment. We report taxes assessed by a governmental authority such as sales, use, value added and excise taxes on a net basis (i.e., we do not recognize these taxes in either our revenues or in our costs and expenses).
Selling, general and administrative expenses	Selling, general and administrative expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses include costs related to marketing, sales, distribution, environmental costs and administrative functions such as accounting, treasury and finance, and includes costs for salaries and benefits, travel and entertainment, promotional materials and professional fees. Advertising costs, expensed as incurred, were $1.4 million, $1.8 million and $1.4 million in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively.
Business segment information	The accounting policies of our segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies except that no defined benefit pension or OPEB expense or credits are recognized and the elimination of intercompany profit or loss on ending inventory balances is not allocated to each segment.
Fair Value of Variable Rate Indebtedness	The fair value of our variable rate indebtedness is deemed to approximate book value and is a Level 2 input as defined by ASC Topic 820-10-35. The fair value of our fixed-rate indebtedness was based on the net present value of our remaining debt payments at an interest rate commensurate with our variable-rate debt which represents Level 3 inputs as defined in ASC Topic 820-10-35. Note that substantially all of the carrying value of our fixed-rate debt at December 31, 2011 and 2012 relates to a $1.1 million non-interest bearing note. Because it is non-interest bearing, we have calculated an imputed interest rate on the note and carry the note at a value discounted for such interest.
Comprehensive Income	In September 2011 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2011-05, Presentation of Comprehensive Income. ASU 2011-05 eliminates the option of presenting comprehensive income as a component of the Consolidated Statement of Stockholders’ Equity and instead requires comprehensive income to be presented as a component of the Consolidated Statement of Income or in a separate Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income immediately following the Consolidated Statement of Income. In accordance with ASU 2011-05, we now present our comprehensive income in a separate Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income. Additionally, ASU 2011-05 would have required us to present on the face of our financial statements the effect of reclassifications out of accumulative other comprehensive income on the components of net income and other comprehensive income. However, in December 2011 the FASB issued ASU 2011-12, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Deferral of the Effective Date for Amendments to the Presentation of Reclassifications of Items Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05. ASU 2011-12 defers the effectiveness for the requirement to present on the face of our financial statements the effects of reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income on the components of net income and other comprehensive income. Adoption of ASU 2011-05, as amended by ASU 2011-12, did not have a material effect on our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. In February 2013 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2013-02, Reporting of Amounts Reclassified out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. ASU 2013-02 does not change current financial reporting requirements, instead an entity is required to cross-reference to other required disclosures that provide additional detail about amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income. In addition, ASU 2013-02 requires an entity to present significant amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by line item of net income if the amount reclassified is required to be reclassified to net income in its entirety in the same reporting period. Adoption of this standard is required for periods beginning after December 15, 2013; however, as permitted by the standard, we have elected to adopt ASU 2013-02 beginning with this report, see Note 10. The adoption of ASU 2013-02, did not have a material effect on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Summary of significant accounting policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Nature of our business. Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc. (“KCI” or “Keystone”) (OTCQB: KYCN) is a leading domestic producer of steel fabricated wire products, industrial wire and wire rod. We also manufacture wire mesh, coiled rebar, steel bar and other products. Our products are used in the agricultural, industrial, cold drawn, construction, transportation, original equipment manufacturer and retail consumer markets. We are vertically integrated, converting substantially all of our products from billet produced in our steel mini-mill.

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation. Our Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Keystone and our majority-owned subsidiaries. All material intercompany accounts and balances have been eliminated. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current year presentation.

Our fiscal year is either 52 or 53 weeks and ends on the Sunday closest to December 31 of each year. 2010 was a 53-week year while 2011 and 2012 were each 52-week years.

Unless otherwise indicated, references in this report to “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc. and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole.

Management's Estimates

Management’s Estimates. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results may differ from previously estimated amounts under different assumptions or conditions.

Accounts receivable

Accounts receivable. We provide an allowance for doubtful accounts for known and estimated potential losses arising from our sales to customers based on a periodic review of these accounts.

Inventories and cost of sales

Inventories and cost of sales. We state inventories at lower of cost or market net of allowance for obsolete and slow-moving inventories. We generally base inventory costs for all inventory categories on the first-in, first-out method or an average cost that approximates the first-in, first-out method. Inventories include the costs for raw materials and the costs to manufacture raw materials into finished goods. Depending on the inventory’s stage of completion, our manufacturing costs can include the costs of packing and finishing, utilities, maintenance and depreciation, inbound and outbound shipping and handling, and salaries and benefits associated with our manufacturing process. We allocate fixed manufacturing overhead based on normal production capacity. Unallocated overhead costs resulting from periods with abnormally low production levels are charged to expense as incurred. As inventory is sold to third parties, we recognize the cost of sales in the same period the sale occurs. We periodically review our inventory for estimated obsolescence or instances when inventory is no longer marketable for its intended use, and we record any write-down equal to the difference between the cost of inventory and its estimated net realizable value based on assumptions about alternative uses, market conditions and other factors.

Property, plant and equipment and depreciation expense

Property, plant and equipment and depreciation expense. Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation for financial reporting purposes is computed using principally the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of 10 to 30 years for buildings and improvements and three to 15 years for machinery and equipment. Accelerated depreciation methods are used for income tax purposes, as permitted. Depreciation expense for financial reporting purposes was $12.1 million, $11.2 million and $11.4 million during 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively. Upon sale or retirement of an asset, the related cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any gain or loss is recognized in income currently.

We expense expenditures for maintenance, repairs and minor renewals as incurred, including planned major maintenance. We capitalize expenditures for major improvements. We capitalize interest costs related to major long-term capital projects and renewals as a component of construction costs. We did not capitalize any material interest costs in 2010, 2011 or 2012.

We perform impairment tests when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of our property, plant and equipment may not be recoverable. We consider all relevant factors. We perform the impairment test by comparing the estimated future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset to the asset's net carrying value to determine if an impairment exists.

Long-term debt and deferred financing costs

Long-term debt and deferred financing costs. We state long-term debt net of any unamortized original issue premium or discount. We classify amortization of deferred financing costs and any premium or discount associated with the issuance of indebtedness in interest expense, and compute such amortization by the interest method over the term of the applicable issue.

Pension plans and other postretirement benefits

Pension plans and other postretirement benefits. Accounting and funding policies for our pension plans and other postretirement benefits (“OPEB”) are described in Note 6.

Environmental liabilities

Environmental liabilities. We record liabilities related to environmental remediation when estimated future expenditures are probable and reasonably estimable. If we are unable to determine that a single amount in an estimated range of probable future expenditures is more likely, we record the minimum amount of the range. Such accruals are adjusted as further information becomes available or circumstances change. We do not discount costs of future expenditures for environmental remediation obligations to their present value due to the uncertain timeframe of payout. We expense any legal costs related to environmental remediation as incurred. We record recoveries of environmental remediation costs from other parties as assets when their receipt is deemed probable. We did not have any such assets recorded at December 31, 2011 or 2012. See Note 7.

Income taxes

Income taxes. In August 2011, we became a member of Contran’s consolidated U.S. federal income tax group (the “Contran Tax Group”) pursuant to Contran’s purchase of additional shares of our common stock which resulted in Contran’s ownership interest increasing to more than 80%. See Note 10. We also file consolidated income tax returns with Contran in various U.S. state jurisdictions. As a member of the Contran Tax Group, we are a party to a tax sharing agreement with Contran which provides that, beginning in August 2011, we compute our tax provision for U.S. income taxes on a separate-company basis using the tax elections made by Contran. Pursuant to the tax sharing agreement, we make payments to, or receive payments from, Contran in amounts we would have paid to or received from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or the applicable state tax authority had we not been a member of the Contran Tax Group for all periods after August 2011. We made net payments to Contran for income taxes of $.2 million and $9.4 million in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the income tax and financial reporting carrying amounts of assets and liabilities. We periodically evaluate our deferred tax assets and adjust any related valuation allowance based on the estimate of the amount of such deferred tax assets which we believe does not meet the more-likely-than-not recognition criteria.

We record a reserve for uncertain tax positions for tax positions where we believe it is more-likely-than-not our position will not prevail with the applicable tax authorities. Our reserve for uncertain tax positions was nil in each of 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Net sales

Net sales. We record sales when products have shipped and title and other risks and rewards of ownership have passed to the customer. We include amounts charged to customers for shipping and handling in net sales. Our sales are stated net of volume rebates and discounts for price and early payment. We report taxes assessed by a governmental authority such as sales, use, value added and excise taxes on a net basis (i.e., we do not recognize these taxes in either our revenues or in our costs and expenses).

Selling, general and administrative expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses include costs related to marketing, sales, distribution, environmental costs and administrative functions such as accounting, treasury and finance, and includes costs for salaries and benefits, travel and entertainment, promotional materials and professional fees. Advertising costs, expensed as incurred, were $1.4 million, $1.8 million and $1.4 million in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Business segment information

The accounting policies of our segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies except that no defined benefit pension or OPEB expense or credits are recognized and the elimination of intercompany profit or loss on ending inventory balances is not allocated to each segment.

Fair Value of Variable Rate Indebtedness

The fair value of our variable rate indebtedness is deemed to approximate book value and is a Level 2 input as defined by ASC Topic 820-10-35. The fair value of our fixed-rate indebtedness was based on the net present value of our remaining debt payments at an interest rate commensurate with our variable-rate debt which represents Level 3 inputs as defined in ASC Topic 820-10-35. Note that substantially all of the carrying value of our fixed-rate debt at December 31, 2011 and 2012 relates to a $1.1 million non-interest bearing note. Because it is non-interest bearing, we have calculated an imputed interest rate on the note and carry the note at a value discounted for such interest.

Comprehensive Income

In September 2011 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2011-05, Presentation of Comprehensive Income. ASU 2011-05 eliminates the option of presenting comprehensive income as a component of the Consolidated Statement of Stockholders’ Equity and instead requires comprehensive income to be presented as a component of the Consolidated Statement of Income or in a separate Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income immediately following the Consolidated Statement of Income. In accordance with ASU 2011-05, we now present our comprehensive income in a separate Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income. Additionally, ASU 2011-05 would have required us to present on the face of our financial statements the effect of reclassifications out of accumulative other comprehensive income on the components of net income and other comprehensive income. However, in December 2011 the FASB issued ASU 2011-12, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Deferral of the Effective Date for Amendments to the Presentation of Reclassifications of Items Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05. ASU 2011-12 defers the effectiveness for the requirement to present on the face of our financial statements the effects of reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income on the components of net income and other comprehensive income. Adoption of ASU 2011-05, as amended by ASU 2011-12, did not have a material effect on our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

In February 2013 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2013-02, Reporting of Amounts Reclassified out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. ASU 2013-02 does not change current financial reporting requirements, instead an entity is required to cross-reference to other required disclosures that provide additional detail about amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income. In addition, ASU 2013-02 requires an entity to present significant amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income by line item of net income if the amount reclassified is required to be reclassified to net income in its entirety in the same reporting period. Adoption of this standard is required for periods beginning after December 15, 2013; however, as permitted by the standard, we have elected to adopt ASU 2013-02 beginning with this report, see Note 10. The adoption of ASU 2013-02, did not have a material effect on our Consolidated Financial Statements.