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Note 12 - Inventories | 12 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2021
Notes to Financial Statements |
Inventory Disclosure [Text Block] | 12. Inventories Effective December 30, 2007, the Company changed its inventory valuation method from the lower of cost, determined under the FIFO method, or market to the lower of cost, determined under the LIFO method, or market. In the high inflation environment that the Company was experiencing, the Company believed that the LIFO inventory method was preferable over the FIFO method because it better compares the cost of current production to current revenue. The effect of LIFO was to increase continuing net earnings by $11.7 million and $12.8 million in 2021 and 2020, respectively, compared to what would have been reported using the FIFO inventory method. The increase in earnings per share was $1.29 ($1.28 diluted) and $1.38 ($1.37 diluted) in 2021 and 2020, respectively. There was a LIFO liquidation of $6.6 million in 2020, which eliminated all but the base LIFO layer as of March 31, 2020. There were no LIFO liquidations in 2021 as only the base LIFO layer remains. The inventories by category and the impact of using the LIFO method are shown in the following table (in thousands):
|  | 2021 |  |  | 2020 |
Finished products |  | $ | 317,654 |  |  | $ | 351,251 |
In process |  |  | 25,175 |  |  |  | 31,173 |
Raw materials and supplies |  |  | 128,987 |  |  |  | 173,474 |
|  |  | 471,816 |  |  |  | 555,898 |
Less excess of FIFO cost over LIFO cost |  |  | 128,672 |  |  |  | 144,267 |
Total inventories |  | $ | 343,144 |  |  | $ | 411,631 |

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- Definition The entire disclosure for inventory. Includes, but is not limited to, the basis of stating inventory, the method of determining inventory cost, the classes of inventory, and the nature of the cost elements included in inventory. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 330 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2126998 + Details
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