Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

v3.10.0.1
Revenue from Contracts with Customers
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Revenue from Contracts with Customers [Abstract]  
Revenue from Contracts with Customers
4. Revenue from Contracts with Customers:
Revenue Recognition Model
As described in Note 2, the Company applies the five-step revenue recognition model to each contract with its customers.
Evidence of a contract between the Company and its customers may take the form of a master service agreement (“MSA”), a MSA in combination with an underlying purchase order, a combination of a pricing quote with an underlying purchase order or an individual purchase order received from a customer. The Company and certain of its customers enter into MSAs that establish the terms, including prices, under which orders to purchase goods may be placed. In cases where the MSA contains a distinct order for goods or contains an enforceable minimum quantity to be purchased by the customer, the Company considers the MSA to be evidence of a contract between the Company and its customer as the MSA creates enforceable rights and obligations. In cases where the MSA does not contain a distinct order for goods, the Company’s contract with a customer is the purchase order issued under the MSA. Customers of the Company may also negotiate orders via pricing quotes, which typically detail product pricing, delivery terms and payment information. When a customer procures goods under this method, the Company considers the combination of the pricing quote and the purchase order to create enforceable rights and obligations. Absent either a MSA or pricing quote, the Company considers an individual purchase order remitted by a customer to create enforceable rights and obligations.
The Company identifies a performance obligation in a contract for each promised good that is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract and for which the customer can benefit from the good. The majority of the Company’s contracts have a single performance obligation, which is the promise to transfer individual goods to the customer. Single performance obligations are satisfied according to the shipping terms noted within the MSA or purchase order. The Company has certain contracts that include multiple performance obligations under which the purchase price for each distinct performance obligation is defined in the contract. These distinct performance obligations may include stand-ready provisions, which are arrangements to provide a customer assurance that they will have access to output from the Company’s manufacturing facilities, or monthly reservations of capacity fees. The Company considers stand-ready provisions and reservation of capacity fees to be performance obligations satisfied over time. Revenues related to stand-ready provisions and reservation of capacity fees are recognized on a ratable basis throughout the contract term and billed to the customer on a monthly basis.
As described above, the Company’s MSAs with its customers may outline prices for individual products or contract provisions. MSAs in the Company’s performance chemicals and refining services product groups may contain provisions whereby raw material costs are passed-through to the customer per the terms of their contract. The Company’s exposure to fluctuations in raw material prices is limited, as the majority of pass-through contract provisions reset based on fluctuations in the underlying raw material price. MSAs in the Company’s refining services product group also contain take-or-pay arrangements, whereby the customer would incur a penalty in the form of a volume shortfall fee. There have been no issues where in which customers failed to meet the contractual minimum. Revenue from product sales are recorded at the sales price, which includes estimates of variable consideration for which reserves are established and which result from discounts, returns or other allowances that are offered within contracts between the Company and its customers.
The Company recognizes revenues when performance obligations under the terms of a contract with its customer are satisfied, which generally occurs at a point in time by transferring control of a product to the customer. The Company determines the point in time when a customer obtains control of a product and the Company satisfies the performance obligation by considering factors including when the Company has a right to payment for the product, the customer has legal title to the product, the Company has transferred possession of the product, the customer has assumed the risks and rewards of ownership of the product and the customer has accepted the product. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for transferring goods. The Company does not have any significant payment terms as payment is received at, or shortly after, the point of sale.
Environmental Catalysts & Services Segment - Silica Catalysts
The Company’s silica catalysts product group sells highly customized products to its customers. Contracts between silica catalysts and its customers are typically evidenced by entering into a supply arrangement that outlines the specification of the products to be sold and contains terms and conditions under which purchase orders are issued. These supply arrangements typically have a duration from 1 to 10 years. Although the duration of these supply arrangements are in excess of one year, a contract is formed between the Company and its customer upon receipt of a purchase order.
Certain silica catalysts supply arrangements contain performance guarantees whereby the goods sold under a purchase order can be returned if the goods are not compatible with the customer’s production process. In order to mitigate any risk of a customer returning goods, the Company will allow the customer to obtain a sample of the goods to ensure compliance with its production process before accepting any orders. Due to these mitigating factors, the Company has not experienced any returns and does not account for a separate performance obligation related to the performance guarantee in certain of its contracts.
Environmental Catalysts & Services Segment - Refining Services
Contracts between the Company’s refining services product group and its customers are typically evidenced by entering into a MSA which generally have a term in excess of one year. Though each MSA is unique, the terms may include performance obligations such as stand-ready provisions and minimum purchase requirements. Stand-ready provisions within these contracts are billed on a monthly basis, as the performance obligation resets on a monthly basis and does not carry-over to the following month. Certain of the Company’s refining services MSA’s contain minimum purchase requirements that expire within the calendar year. The Company reviews each contract with minimum purchase requirements to determine if the customer will meet the provisions within the current calendar year. The Company records revenues related to the minimum purchase requirements when it becomes evident that the customer will not meet the minimum purchase requirements noted within the contract. Contracts within refining services may also contain raw material pricing adjustments which are typically based on a commodity index. These raw material pass-through provisions reset on a periodic basis and prospectively adjust the raw material cost component of the goods sold to the customer. The Company accounts for the raw material costs on a prospective basis, as the price changes affect the future consideration of the sale of goods.
Performance Materials & Chemicals - Performance Chemicals
Contracts between the Company’s performance chemicals product group and its customers are typically evidenced by entering into a supply arrangement that outlines the specification of the products to be sold and contains terms and conditions under which purchase orders are issued. Certain performance chemicals supply arrangements may contain raw material pricing adjustments which are typically based on a commodity index. These raw material pass-through provisions reset on a periodic basis and prospectively adjust the raw material cost component of the goods sold to the customer. The Company accounts for the raw material pass-through costs on a prospective basis, as the price changes affect the future consideration of the sale of goods.
Performance Materials & Chemicals - Performance Materials
Contracts between the Company’s performance materials reporting unit and its customers are typically evidenced by receipt of a purchase order from the customer which details the specification of the products to be sold. Revenue is recorded according to the shipping terms noted within the purchase order.
Contract Assets and Liabilities
A contract asset is a right to consideration in exchange for goods that the Company has transferred to a customer when that right is conditional on something other than the passage of time. A contract liability exists when the Company receives consideration in advance of performance obligations. The Company has not recorded any contract assets or contract liabilities on its consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018.
Practical Expedients and Accounting Policy Elections
The Company has elected to use certain practical expedients and has made certain accounting policy elections as permitted under the new revenue recognition guidance. Certain of the Company’s contracts with customers are based on an individual purchase order; thus, the duration of these contracts are for one year or less. As described above, certain performance obligations reset either monthly or at the end of the calendar year. The Company has made an accounting policy election to omit certain disclosures related to remaining performance obligations for contracts which have an initial term of one year or less.
The Company uses an output method to recognize revenues related to performance obligations satisfied over time. These performance obligations, as described above, are satisfied within a calendar year. As such, the Company has elected to utilize the “as-invoiced” practical expedient, which permits the Company to recognize revenue in the amount to which it has a right to invoice the customer, provided that the amount corresponds directly with the value provided by the performance obligation as completed to date.
When the Company performs shipping and handling activities after the transfer of control to the customer (e.g. when control transfers prior to delivery), they are considered fulfillment activities as opposed to separate performance obligations, and the Company recognizes revenue upon the transfer of control to the customer. Accordingly, the costs associated with these shipping and handling activities are accrued when the related revenue is recognized under the Company’s policy election. The Company expenses incremental costs of obtaining a contract as incurred if the expected amortization period of the asset that the Company would have recognized is one year or less. Sales, value added and other taxes the Company collects concurrent with revenue producing activities are excluded from revenues.
Disaggregated Revenue
The Company’s primary means of disaggregating revenues is by product group, which can be found in Note 13 to these consolidated financial statements.
The Company’s portfolio of products are integrated into a variety of end uses, which are described in the table below.
Key End Uses
Key Products
Industrial & process chemicals
• Silicate precursors for the tire industry
 
• Glass beads, or microspheres, for metal finishing end uses
Fuels & emission control
• Refinery catalysts
 
• Emission control catalysts
 
• Catalyst recycling services
 
• Silicate for catalyst manufacturing
Packaging & engineered plastics
• Catalysts for high-density polyethlene and chemicals syntheses
 
• Antiblocks for film packaging
 
• Solid and hollow microspheres for composite plastics
 
• Sulfur derivatives for nylon production
Highway safety & construction
• Reflective markings for roadways and airports
 
• Silica gels for surface coatings
Consumer products
• Silica gels for edible oil and beer clarification
 
• Precipitated silicas, silicates and zeolites for the dentifrice and
 
dishwasher and laundry detergent applications
Natural resources
• Silicates for drilling muds
 
• Hollow glass beads, or microspheres, for oil well cements
 
• Silicates and alum for water treatment mining
 
• Bleaching aids for paper
The following table disaggregates the Company’s sales, by segment and end use, for the year ended December 31, 2018:
 
 
Environmental Catalysts & Services
 
Performance Materials & Chemicals
 
Total
Industrial & process chemicals
 
$
77,952

 
$
279,678

 
$
357,630

Fuels & emission control(1)
 
246,452

 

 
246,452

Packaging & engineered plastics
 
131,181

 
130,996

 
262,177

Highway safety & construction(1)
 

 
320,134

 
320,134

Consumer products
 

 
272,576

 
272,576

Natural resources
 
72,076

 
80,432

 
152,508

Total segment sales
 
527,661

 
1,083,816

 
1,611,477

Inter-segment sales eliminations
 
(3,323
)
 

 
(3,323
)
Total
 
$
524,338

 
$
1,083,816

 
$
1,608,154

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(1) 
As described in Note 1, the Company experiences seasonal sales fluctuations to customers in the fuels & emission control and highway safety & construction end uses.