Note 3 - Inventories

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

3.	Inventories :

Inventories consisted of the following:

	Inventory as of
(in thousands)	September 30, 2017		December 31, 2016
Unprocessed	$	232,123	$	203,256
Processed and finished		48,100		51,270
Totals	$	280,223	$	254,526

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

first

-out (LIFO) method. At

September 30, 2017

and

December 31, 2016,

approximately

$50.5

million, or

18.0%

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

nine

months ended

September 30, 2017,

the Company recorded

0.7

million and

$1.5

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

three

and

nine

months ended

September 30, 2016,

the Company recorded

$0.7

million of LIFO income.

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

6.6

million lower than reported at

September 30, 2017

and

$8.0

million lower than reported at

December 31, 2016.