Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2013

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign [Table Text Block]

Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes was as follows for the years ended August 31 (in thousands):



	2013			2012			2011
United States	$	(196,289	)	$	54,304		$	171,329
Foreign	(141,160		)	(11,348		)	9,476
Total	$	(337,449	)	$	42,956		$	180,805

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Table Text Block]

Income tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations consisted of the following for the years ended August 31 (in thousands):



	2013			2012			2011
Current:
Federal	$	556		$	5,267		$	33,499
State	356			453			2,583
Foreign	764			(2		)	82
Total current tax expense (benefit)	$	1,676		$	5,718		$	36,164
Deferred:
Federal	$	(58,194	)	$	13,166		$	19,164
State	(264		)	(2,748		)	383
Foreign	(644		)	(2,097		)	1,457
Total deferred tax expense (benefit)	(59,102		)	8,321			21,004
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	(57,426	)	$	14,039		$	57,168

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation [Table Text Block]

A reconciliation of the difference between the federal statutory rate and the Company’s effective tax rate for the years ended August 31 is as follows:



	2013		2012		2011
Federal statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State taxes, net of credits	1.2		(5.7	)	0.7
Foreign income taxed at different rates	(3.5	)	4.2		(0.6	)
Section 199 deduction	0.5		(0.3	)	(1.0	)
Non-deductible officers’ compensation	(0.1	)	1.5		0.3
Noncontrolling interests	0.2		(2.2	)	(1.0	)
Research and development credits	0.2		(2.0	)	(0.5	)
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets	(8.6	)	—		—
Non-deductible goodwill	(7.1	)	—		—
Foreign interest income	—		0.7		—
Other	(0.8	)	1.5		(1.3	)
Effective tax rate	17.0	%	32.7	%	31.6	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Table Text Block]

Deferred tax assets and liabilities were comprised of the following as of August 31 (in thousands):



	2013			2012
Deferred tax assets:
Environmental liabilities	$	12,390		$	11,165
Employee benefit accruals	9,378			9,784
State income tax and other	2,478			5,384
Net operating loss carryforwards	11,758			5,699
State credit carryforwards	5,360			4,374
Inventory valuation methods	1,390			1,560
Amortizable goodwill and other intangibles	38,820			—
Valuation allowances	(29,696		)	(795		)
Total deferred tax assets	$	51,878		$	37,171
Deferred tax liabilities:
Amortizable goodwill and other intangibles	$	—		$	20,452
Accelerated depreciation and other basis differences	68,609			90,544
Prepaid expense acceleration	2,418			2,365
Foreign currency translation adjustment	30			1,987
Total deferred tax liabilities	71,057			115,348
Net deferred tax liability	$	19,179		$	78,177

Summary of Income Tax Contingencies [Table Text Block]

The following table summarizes the activity related to the Company’s reserve for unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, for the years ended August 31 (in thousands):



	2013			2012			2011
Unrecognized tax benefits, as of the beginning of the year	$	491		$	303		$	1,631
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	(31		)	(143		)	(75		)
Settlements with tax authorities	—			—			(875		)
Additions for tax positions of the current year	66			331			160
Reductions for lapse of statutes	—			—			(538		)
Unrecognized tax benefits, as of the end of the year	$	526		$	491		$	303