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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | Note 1 – Summary of significant accounting policies: Organization and basis of presentation – At December 31, 2016, Valhi, Inc. (NYSE: VHI) held approximately 50% of our outstanding common stock and a wholly-owned subsidiary of NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE: NL) held approximately 30% of our common stock. Valhi owned approximately 83% of NL’s outstanding common stock and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Contran Corporation held approximately 93% of Valhi’s outstanding common stock. All of Contran’s outstanding voting stock is held by a family trust established for the benefit of Lisa K. Simmons and Serena Simmons Connelly and their children, for which Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly are co-trustees, or is held directly by Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly or entities related to them. Consequently, Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly may be deemed to control Contran, Valhi, NL and us. Unless otherwise indicated, references in this report to “we,” “us” or “our” refers to Kronos Worldwide, Inc. and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole. Management’s estimates – In preparing our financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) we are required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results may differ significantly from previously-estimated amounts under different assumptions or conditions. Principles of consolidation – The consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of our majority-owned subsidiaries. We have eliminated all material intercompany accounts and balances. Translation of currencies – We translate the assets and liabilities of our subsidiaries whose functional currency is other than the U.S. dollar at year-end exchange rates, while we translate our revenues and expenses at average exchange rates prevailing during the year. We accumulate the resulting translation adjustments in stockholders’ equity as part of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of related deferred income taxes. We recognize currency transaction gains and losses in income currently. Derivatives and hedging activities – We recognize derivatives as either assets or liabilities measured at fair value. We recognize the effect of changes in the fair value of derivatives either in net income or other comprehensive income (loss), depending on the intended use of the derivative. See Note 18. Cash and cash equivalents – We classify bank time deposits and U.S. Treasury securities purchased under short-term agreements to resell with original maturities of three months or less as cash equivalents. Restricted cash – We classify cash that has been segregated or is otherwise limited in use as restricted. Such restrictions or limitations relate to certain Norwegian payroll tax and unfunded employee benefit obligations. To the extent the restricted amount relates to a recognized liability, we classify such restricted amount as either a current or noncurrent asset to correspond with the classification of the liability. To the extent the restricted amount does not relate to a recognized liability, we classify restricted cash as a current asset. All of our restricted cash is classified as a current asset and is separately presented on the face of the statement of financial position. Marketable securities and securities transactions – We carry marketable securities at fair value. Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, establishes a consistent framework for measuring fair value and (with certain exceptions) this framework is generally applied to all financial statement items required to be measured at fair value. The standard requires fair value measurements to be classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:
| • | Level 1 – Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
| • | Level 2 – Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs which are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the assets or liability; and
| • | Level 3 – Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable.
We classify all of our marketable securities as available-for-sale and unrealized gains or losses on these securities are recognized through other comprehensive income, net of deferred income taxes, except for any decline in value we conclude is other than temporary, which is accounted for as a realized loss as a component of net income. We base realized gains and losses upon the specific identification of the securities sold. We evaluate our investments whenever events or conditions occur to indicate that the fair value of such investments has declined below their carrying amounts. If the carrying amount for an investment declines below its historical cost basis, we evaluate all available positive and negative evidence including, but not limited to, the extent and duration of the impairment, business prospects for the investee and our intent and ability to hold the investment for a reasonable period of time sufficient for the recovery of fair value. If we determine the decline in fair value is other than temporary, the carrying amount of the investment is written down to fair value. See Notes 6, 10 and 18. Accounts receivable – We provide an allowance for doubtful accounts for known and estimated potential losses arising from sales to customers based on a periodic review of these accounts. See Note 3. Inventories and cost of sales – We state inventories at the lower of cost or market, net of allowance for obsolete and slow-moving inventories. We generally base inventory costs for all inventory categories on average cost that approximates the first-in, first-out method. Inventories include the costs for raw materials, the cost to manufacture the raw materials into finished goods and overhead. Depending on the inventory’s stage of completion, our manufacturing costs can include the costs of packing and finishing, utilities, maintenance, depreciation, and salaries and benefits associated with our manufacturing process. We allocate fixed manufacturing overheads based on normal production capacity. Unallocated overhead costs resulting from periods with abnormally low production levels are charged to expense as incurred. As inventory is sold to third parties, we recognize the cost of sales in the same period that the sale occurs. We periodically review our inventory for estimated obsolescence or instances when inventory is no longer marketable for its intended use, and we record any write-down equal to the difference between the cost of inventory and its estimated net realizable value based on assumptions about alternative uses, market conditions and other factors. See Note 4. Investment in TiO 2 manufacturing joint venture – We account for our investment in a 50%-owned manufacturing joint venture by the equity method. Distributions received from such investee are classified for statement of cash flow purposes using the “nature of distribution” approach under ASC Topic 320. See Note 5. Property and equipment and depreciation – We state property and equipment at cost, including capitalized interest on borrowings during the actual construction period of major capital projects. Capitalized interest costs were $2.9 million in 2014, $1.1 million in 2015 and $.9 million in 2016. We compute depreciation of property and equipment for financial reporting purposes (including mining equipment) principally by the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:
Asset |  | Useful lives
Buildings and improvements |  | 10 to 40 years
Machinery and equipment |  | 3 to 20 years
Mine development costs |  | units-of-production
We use accelerated depreciation methods for income tax purposes, as permitted. Upon the sale or retirement of an asset, we remove the related cost and accumulated depreciation from the accounts and recognize any gain or loss in income currently. We expense costs incurred for maintenance, repairs and minor renewals (including planned major maintenance) while we capitalize expenditures for major improvements. We have a governmental concession with an unlimited term to operate our ilmenite mines in Norway. Mining properties consist of buildings and equipment used in our Norwegian ilmenite mining operations. While we own the land and ilmenite reserves associated with the mining operations, such land and reserves were acquired for nominal value and we have no material asset recognized for the land and reserves related to our mining operations. We perform impairment tests when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. We consider all relevant factors. We perform the impairment test by comparing the estimated future undiscounted cash flows (exclusive of interest expense) associated with the asset to the asset’s net carrying value to determine if a write-down to fair value or discounted cash flow value is required. Long-term debt – We state long-term debt net of any unamortized original issue premium, discount or deferred financing costs (other than deferred financing costs associated with revolving credit facilities, which are recognized as an asset). We classify amortization of all deferred financing costs and any premium or discount associated with the issuance of indebtedness as interest expense and compute such amortization by either the interest method or the straight-line method over the term of the applicable issue. See Note 8. Employee benefit plans – Accounting and funding policies for our retirement plans are described in Note 10. Income taxes – We, Valhi and our qualifying subsidiaries are members of Contran’s consolidated U.S. federal income tax group (the Contran Tax Group) and we and certain of our qualifying subsidiaries also file consolidated income tax returns with Contran in various U.S. state jurisdictions. As a member of the Contran Tax Group, we are jointly and severally liable for the federal income tax liability of Contran and the other companies included in the Contran Tax Group for all periods in which we are included in the Contran Tax Group. See Note 17. As a member of the Contran Tax Group, we are a party to a tax sharing agreement which provides that we compute our provision for U.S. income taxes on a separate-company basis using the tax elections made by Contran. Pursuant to the tax sharing agreement, we make payments to or receive payments from Valhi in amounts we would have paid to or received from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or the applicable state tax authority had we not been a member of the Contran Tax Group. We made net payments of income taxes to Valhi of $8.2 million in 2014 and $.8 million in 2016, and received net income tax refunds from Valhi of $3.5 million in 2015. We recognize deferred income tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the income tax and financial reporting carrying amounts of assets and liabilities, including investments in our subsidiaries and affiliates who are not members of the Contran Tax Group and undistributed earnings of non-U.S. subsidiaries which are not deemed to be permanently reinvested. The earnings of non-U.S. subsidiaries subject to permanent reinvestment plans aggregated $660 million at December 31, 2016. It is not practical for us to determine the amount of the unrecognized deferred income tax liability related to such earnings due to the complexities associated with the U.S. taxation on earnings of non-U.S. subsidiaries repatriated to the U.S. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities for each tax-paying jurisdiction in which we operate are netted and presented as either a noncurrent deferred income tax asset or liability, as applicable. We periodically evaluate our deferred tax assets in the various taxing jurisdictions in which we operate and adjust any related valuation allowance based on the estimate of the amount of such deferred tax assets that we believe does not meet the more-likely-than-not recognition criteria. We record a reserve for uncertain tax positions for tax positions where we believe that it is more-likely-than-not our position will not prevail with the applicable tax authorities. The amount of the benefit associated with our uncertain tax positions that we recognize is limited to the largest amount for which we believe the likelihood of realization is greater than 50%. We accrue penalties and interest on the difference between tax positions taken on our tax returns and the amount of benefit recognized for financial reporting purposes. We classify our reserves for uncertain tax positions in a separate current or noncurrent liability, depending on the nature of the tax position. See Note 14. Net sales – We record sales when products are shipped and title and other risks and rewards of ownership have passed to the customer. Shipping terms of products shipped are generally FOB shipping point, although in some instances shipping terms are FOB destination point (for which we do not recognize sales until the product is received by the customer) or other standard shipping terms. We state sales net of price, early payment and distributor discounts and volume rebates. We report any tax assessed by a governmental authority that we collect from our customers that is both imposed on and concurrent with our revenue-producing activities (such as sales, use, value added and excise taxes) on a net basis (meaning we do not recognize these taxes either in our revenues or in our costs and expenses). Selling, general and administrative expense; shipping and handling costs – Selling, general and administrative expense includes costs related to marketing, sales, distribution, shipping and handling, research and development, legal, and administrative functions such as accounting, treasury and finance, and includes costs for salaries and benefits not associated with our manufacturing process, travel and entertainment, promotional materials and professional fees. We include shipping and handling costs in selling, general and administrative expense and these costs were $95 million in 2014, $87 million in 2015 and $90 million in 2016. We expense research, development and certain sales technical support costs as incurred and these costs approximated $19 million in 2014, $16 million in 2015 and $13 million in 2016. We expense advertising costs as incurred and these costs were not material in any year presented.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the organization, consolidation and basis of presentation of financial statements disclosure, and significant accounting policies of the reporting entity. May be provided in more than one note to the financial statements, as long as users are provided with an understanding of (1) the significant judgments and assumptions made by an enterprise in determining whether it must consolidate a VIE and/or disclose information about its involvement with a VIE, (2) the nature of restrictions on a consolidated VIE's assets reported by an enterprise in its statement of financial position, including the carrying amounts of such assets, (3) the nature of, and changes in, the risks associated with an enterprise's involvement with the VIE, and (4) how an enterprise's involvement with the VIE affects the enterprise's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows. Describes procedure if disclosures are provided in more than one note to the financial statements. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64851502&loc=d3e6003-108592 + Details
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