Note 3 - Inventories

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

3.	Inventories :

Inventories consisted of the following:

	Inventory as of
(in thousands)	June 30, 2017		December 31, 2016
Unprocessed	$	213,965	$	203,256
Processed and finished		48,775		51,270
Totals	$	262,740	$	254,526

The Company values certain of its tubular and pipe products inventory at the last-in,

first

-out (LIFO) method. At

June 30, 2017

and

December 31, 2016,

approximately

$49.5

million, or

18.8%

of consolidated inventory, and

$43.4

million, or

17.1%

of consolidated inventory, respectively, was reported under the LIFO method of accounting. The cost of the remainder of the tubular and pipe products inventory is determined using a weighted average rolling

first

-in,

first

-out (FIFO) method.

During the

three

and

six

months ended

June 30, 2017,

the Company recorded

$0.4

and

$0.8

million of LIFO expense, respectively, as the current projections anticipate increased pricing and volume of LIFO inventory for the remainder of the year. During the

six

months ended

June 30, 2016,

the Company did

not

record an adjustment to LIFO inventory.

If the FIFO method had been in use, inventories would have been

$7.3

million lower than reported at

June 30, 2017

and

$8.0

million lower than reported at

December 31, 2016.