Segment Information

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Information

8. Segment Information

The Company and its subsidiaries operate in the business of pigment manufacturing and related products in three geographic segments.  All United States manufacturing is done at the facility located in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Foreign manufacturing is done by the Company’s wholly-owned foreign operations, TMM, located in Malaysia and TPT, located in The Netherlands.

Product sales of inventory between the U.S., Asian and European operations are based on inter-company pricing, which includes an inter-company profit margin.  In the geographic information, the location profit (loss) from all locations is reflective of these inter-company prices, as is inventory at the Corpus Christi location prior to elimination adjustments.  Such presentation is consistent with the internal reporting reviewed by the Company’s chief operating decision maker.  The elimination entries include an adjustment to the cost of sales resulting from the adjustment to ending inventory to eliminate inter-company profit, and the reversal of a similar adjustment from a prior period.  To the extent there are net increases/declines period over period in Corpus Christi inventories that include an inter-company component, the net effect of these adjustments can decrease/increase location profit.

For the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2012, the U.S. operation received approximately 29% of its total third party sales revenue from a single customer.  The European operation received approximately 10% of its total third party sales revenue from one customer, and the Asian operation received approximately 57% of its total third party sales revenue from a single customer.  Two customers, BASF Corporation and Tioxide Europe Ltd., represented approximately 17% and 16%, respectively, of the 2012 total consolidated sales. 

For the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2011, the U.S. operation received approximately 23% of its total third party sales revenue from a single customer.  The European operation received approximately 30% of its total third party sales revenue from two customers (11% and 11%); and, the Asian operation received approximately 21% of its total third party sales revenue from a single customer.  One customer, BASF Corporation, represented 14% of the 2011 total consolidated sales.

Sales from the subsidiary to the parent company are based upon profit margins which represent competitive pricing of similar products.  Intercompany sales consisted of SR, HITOX, ALUPREM and TIOPREM.

The Company's principal product, HITOX, accounted for approximately 33%, 43% and 39% of net consolidated sales in 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

The Company sells its products to customers located in more than 60 countries.  Sales to external customers are attributed to geographic area based on country of distribution.  Sales to customers located in the U.S. represented approximately 48%, 49% and 52% for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

For the year ended December 31, 2012, the United Kingdom represented approximately 16.8% of our total foreign sales.  For the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, no individual country accounted for 10% or more of our foreign sales.

Approximately 27% of the Company's employees are represented by an in-house collective bargaining agreement.

A summary of the Company’s manufacturing operations by geographic area is presented below:

(In thousands)		United States (Corpus Christi)		Netherlands (TP&T)		Malaysia (TMM)		Inter-Company Eliminations		Consolidated
As of and for the years ended:
December 31, 2012
Net Sales:
Customer sales	$	33,263	$	7,578	$	15,812	$	-	$	56,653
Intercompany sales		105		6,179		9,064		(15,348)		-
Total Net Sales	$	33,368	$	13,757	$	24,876	$	(15,348)	$	56,653
Share based compensation	$	90	$		$		$	-	$	90
Depreciation	$	751	$	871	$	848	$	-	$	2,470
Interest expense	$	170	$	126	$	175	$	-	$	471
Income tax expense	$	753	$	133	$	204	$	(66)	$	1,024
Location profit	$	2,076	$	445	$	2,738	$	(231)	$	5,028
Capital expenditures	$	1,928	$	1,581	$	1,372	$	-	$	4,881
Location long-lived assets	$	6,051	$	8,653	$	8,229	$	-	$	22,933
Location assets	$	20,762	$	10,652	$	23,032	$	-	$	54,445
December 31, 2011
Net Sales:
Customer sales	$	24,560	$	10,347	$	6,114	$	-	$	41,021
Intercompany sales		463		3,385		8,487		(12,335)		-
Total Net Sales	$	25,023	$	13,732	$	14,601	$	(12,335)	$	41,021
Share based compensation	$	58	$		$		$	-	$	58
Depreciation	$	740	$	571	$	767	$	-	$	2,078
Interest expense	$	280	$	144	$	47	$	-	$	471
Income tax expense	$	8	$	24	$	21	$	(5)	$	48
Location profit	$	1,910	$	1,064	$	882	$	(20)	$	3,836
Capital expenditures	$	591	$	2,445	$	499	$	-	$	3,535
Location long-lived assets	$	4,875	$	7,819	$	7,444	$	-	$	20,138
Location assets	$	17,050	$	10,026	$	20,891	$	-	$	47,967
December 31, 2010
Net Sales:
Customer sales	$	19,580	$	8,351	$	3,085	$	-	$	31,016
Intercompany sales		98		2,424		5,628		(8,150)		-
Total Net Sales	$	19,678	$	10,775	$	8,713	$	(8,150)	$	31,016
Share based compensation	$	91	$		$		$	-	$	91
Depreciation	$	685	$	511	$	707	$	-	$	1,903
Interest expense	$	247	$	177	$	15	$	-	$	439
Income tax expense	$	7	$	-	$	9	$	-	$	16
Location profit (loss)	$	1,222	$	1,032	$	(55)	$	89	$	2,288
Capital expenditures	$	800	$	827	$	18	$	-	$	1,645
Location long-lived assets	$	5,024	$	6,087	$	7,841	$	-	$	18,952
Location assets	$	13,600	$	8,096	$	15,475	$	-	$	37,171