Note 2. Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Property, Plant and Equipment Disclosure [Text Block]

2. PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Property and equipment consisted of the following. The Estimated Useful Life figure presented in the table represents management’s determination as to the potential full useful life of the assets when new:

	Estimated Useful Life		March 31, 2012			March 31, 2011
Land			$	1,914,808		$	1,313,947
Office buildings & warehouses		10-40		729,690			339,784
Improvements		20-40		628,049			539,622
Dock		20-40		3,675,065			4,228,648
Tanks, truck rack and piping		20-40		9,696,197			7,455,192
Equipment		–5		16,119			15,346
Office equipment, software, packing equip. & tools		5 – 7		408,993			337,996
Construction in process				1,053,052			365,713
Total property, plant and equipment				18,121,973			14,596,248
Less: accumulated depreciation				(1,648,299	)		(1,053,363	)
Net property, plant and equipment, net			$	16,473,674		$	13,542,885

The Company’s remaining useful life of major assets acquired with the Westwego, Brunswick and the Salisbury Terminals was based on an appraiser’s determination of a percent of useful life remaining for major assets as of the acquisition date. Management applied this percentage to its determination as to the potential full useful life of each major asset to arrive at a useful life remaining. Above ground steel storage tanks are designed for long lives and it is common for a storage tank to provide useful service for a period of 40 years or longer.

A summary of the ranges of remaining useful lives calculated for the Westwego, Brunswick and Salisbury Terminal assets when acquired are as follows:

	Office buildings & warehouses		2.5 – 26 years
	Improvements		4 – 20 years
	Dock		7 - 40 years
	Tanks, racks and piping		4 – 40 years *1
	Equipment		5 – 15 years
	Office equipment, software, tools		5 years

*1 One storage tank was recorded with a remaining useful life of 37 years as it had been recently constructed as of December 2008 and the new ship dock and the three tanks constructed in late 2009 and early 2010 are recorded with a useful life of 40 years. The remainder of our tanks is recorded with a remaining useful life of between 6 and 12 years.

On April 14, 2011 the Company entered into an agreement with one of its vendors to transfer the Company’s barge dock and related equipment to the vendor in exchange for $115,000 to be offset against amounts currently owed by the Company to the vendor. As a result, the Company recorded a loss of $362,110 on the disposal of assets in April 2011.

Construction in Process projects as of the end of each fiscal year are recorded as assets when completed during the next current year. Storage tank and piping improvements, along with a new truck loading facility were recorded as Construction in Process projects as of March 31, 2011, totaling approximately $366,000. Construction in Process projects as of March 31, 2012 totaled approximately $1,053,000 and consists of storage tank and piping improvements.

Depreciation and amortization expenses related to property, plant and equipment totaled $672,283 and $565,102 for the year ended March 31, 2012 and the year ended March 31, 2011, respectively.

The Company capitalizes interest cost while Construction in Process projects are under construction. During the year ended March 31, 2012 approximately $61,200 of interest was capitalized and for the year ended March 31, 2011, approximately $210,000 of interest was capitalized.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

+ References+ Details