Financial Instruments and Derivative Financial Instruments (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Derivative [Line Items]

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Text Block]

Financial Instruments and Derivative Financial Instruments

Concentrations of Credit Risks:  The Company sells its products to gas producers, distributors and end-users across the industrial gas, hydrocarbon, chemical processing, respiratory therapy and life sciences industries in countries all over the world. Approximately 51%, 53% and 59% of sales were to foreign countries in 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. No single customer exceeded ten percent of consolidated sales in 2015, 2014 and 2013. Sales to the Company’s top ten customers accounted for 36%, 34% and 37% of consolidated sales in 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. The Company’s sales to particular customers fluctuate from period to period, but the large industrial gas producer and distributor customers of the Company tend to be a consistently large source of revenue for the Company.

The Company is also subject to concentrations of credit risk with respect to its cash and cash equivalents and forward foreign currency exchange contracts. To minimize credit risk from these financial instruments, the Company enters into arrangements with major banks and other quality financial institutions and invests only in high-quality instruments. The Company does not expect any counterparties to fail to meet their obligations in this area.

The changes in fair value with respect to the Company’s foreign currency forward contracts generated net gains of $2,673 and $2,670 for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively and a net loss of $2,940 for the year ended December 2013.