Note 5 - Inventories

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

5.	Inventories:

Inventories consisted of the following:

	Inventory as of
(in thousands)	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
Unprocessed	$	231,706	$	306,953
Processed and finished		51,440		61,785
Totals	$	283,146	$	368,738

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

first

-out (LIFO) method. As of

September 30, 2019,

and

December 31, 2018,

approximately

$41.4

million, or

14.6%

of consolidated inventory, and

$51.1

million, or

13.9%

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.

The Company recorded

$1.0

million and

$1.3

million of LIFO income during the

three

and

nine

months ended

September 30, 2019,

respectively, and current projections anticipate a further decrease in the LIFO reserve by

December 31, 2019.

During the

three

and

nine

months ended

September 30, 2018,

the Company recorded

$2.7

million and

$4.7

million of LIFO expense, respectively.

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

$1.8

million higher than reported as of

September 30, 2019

and

$3.1

million higher than reported as of

December 31, 2018.