Derivative Financial Instruments

9 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2023

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 9. Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company is exposed to various market risks, including changes in commodity prices (raw materials and finished goods). To manage risks associated with the volatility of these natural business exposures, the Company enters into commodity agreements and forward purchase (corn and natural gas) and sale (ethanol, distillers grains and distillers corn oil) contracts. The Company does not purchase or sell derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. The Company does not purchase or sell derivative financial instruments for which a lack of marketplace quotations would require the use of fair value estimation techniques. The changes in fair value of these derivative financial instruments are recognized in current period earnings as the Company does not use hedge accounting.

The following table provides information about the fair values of the Company’s derivative financial instruments (that are not accounted for under the “normal purchases and normal sales” scope exemption of ASC 815) and the line items on the Consolidated Balance Sheets in which the fair values are reflected (in thousands):

	Asset Derivatives Fair Value						Liability Derivatives Fair Value
	October 31, 2023			January 31, 2023			October 31, 2023			January 31, 2023
Commodity futures (1)		$	172		$	80		$	7		$	67
Forward purchase contracts (2)			-			105			1,405			355
Total		$	172		$	185		$	1,412		$	422

(1) Commodity futures assets are included in “Prepaid expenses and other” on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. These contracts include short/sell positions and long/buy positions for approximately 0.5 million bushels and 4.7 million bushels of corn, respectively, at October 31, 2023. These contracts included short/sell positions and long/buy positions for approximately 3.2 million bushels and 725,000 bushels of corn, respectively, at January 31, 2023. Commodity futures liabilities are included in “Accrued expenses and other current liabilities” on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. These contracts include short/sell positions and long/buy positions for approximately 45,000 bushels and 1.3 million bushels of corn, respectively, at October 31, 2023.These contracts included short/sell positions for approximately 1.4 million bushels of corn at January 31, 2023.

(2) Forward purchase contracts assets are included in “Prepaid expenses and other” on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. These contracts were for purchases of approximately 5.2 million bushels of corn at January 31, 2023. Forward contract liabilities are included in “Accrued expenses and other current liabilities” on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. These contracts were for purchases of approximately 13.8 million bushels and 12.8 million bushels of corn at October 31, 2023 and January 31, 2023, respectively.

As of October 31, 2023, and January 31, 2023, all of the derivative financial instruments held by the Company were subject to enforceable master netting arrangements with the counterparties. The Company’s accounting policy is to offset positions and amounts owed with the same counterparties. As of October 31, 2023, and January 31, 2023, the gross positions of the enforceable master netting agreements

were not significantly different from the net positions presented in the table above. Depending on the amount of an unrealized loss on a derivative contract held by the Company, the counterparties may require collateral to secure the Company’s derivative contract position. The Company was required to maintain collateral in the amount of approximately $1.7 million to secure the Company’s derivative liability positions at both October 31, 2023 and January 31, 2023, which is recorded as “Restricted cash” on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

See Note 5 which contains fair value information related to derivative financial instruments.

The Company recognized (losses) and gains, which are included in “Net sales and revenue” in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Operations, on derivative financial instruments related to ethanol sales contracts of approximately $(20,000) and $8,000 for the third quarter of fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company recognized gains and (losses) on derivative financial instruments related to ethanol sales contracts of approximately $0.8 million and $(1.1) million for the first nine months of fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively.

The Company recognized gains, which are included in “Cost of sales” in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Operations, on derivative financial instruments related to corn purchase contracts of approximately $10.6 million and of $9,000 for the third quarter of fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company recognized gains (losses) on derivative financial instruments related to corn purchase contracts of approximately $15.7 million and $(12.9) million for the first nine months of fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively.