Impairment charges

6 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Impairment charges

Impairment Charges

The Company did not record any significant write downs and/or disposals of long-lived assets in the quarter ended September 30, 2017.

In the quarter ended September 30, 2016 KEMET recorded a write down of long-lived assets of $6.3 million due to the following two actions.

On August 31, 2016, KEC made the decision to shut-down operations of its wholly-owned subsidiary, KEMET Foil Manufacturing, LLC (“KFM”). Operations at KFM’s Knoxville, Tennessee plant ceased as of October 31, 2016. KFM supplied formed foil to the Company’s Film and Electrolytic segment (“Film and Electrolytic”), as well as to certain third party customers. The Company anticipates that Film and Electrolytic will achieve raw material cost savings by purchasing its formed foil from suppliers that have the advantage of lower utility costs. During the second fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2016, Film and Electrolytic recorded impairment charges totaling $4.1 million comprised of $3.0 million for the write down of property plant and equipment and $1.1 million for the write down of intangible assets. The impairment charges are recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations line item “Write down of long-lived assets”. In addition, the Company has accrued severance charges and restructuring costs described in Note 6, “Restructuring Charges.”

The Solid Capacitor segment (“Solid Capacitors”) initiated a plan to relocate its K-Salt operations from a leased facility to its existing Matamoros, Mexico facility. Impairment charges of approximately $2.1 million are recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations line item “Write down of long-lived assets”. In addition, the Company has accrued severance charges described in Note 6, “Restructuring Charges”.