Note 4 - Inventories

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

4.	I nventories:

Inventories consisted of the following:

	Inventory as of
(in thousands)	March 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
Unprocessed	$	264,837	$	225,187
Processed and finished		54,187		50,120
Totals	$	319,024	$	275,307

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

first

-out (LIFO) method. At

March 31, 2018

and

December 31, 2017,

approximately

$51.1

million, or

16.0%

of consolidated inventory, and

$48.1

million, or

17.5%

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

months ended

March 31, 2018,

the Company recorded

$0.5

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

three

months ended

March 31, 2017,

the Company recorded

$0.4

million of LIFO expense.

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

$4.8

million and

$5.3

million lower than reported at

March 31, 2018

and

December 31, 2017,

respectively.