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Note 7 - Investments in Joint Ventures | 12 Months Ended
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Aug. 31, 2015
Notes to Financial Statements |
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures Disclosure [Text Block] | 7. INVESTMENTS IN JOINT VENTURES The financial statements of the Company’s foreign joint ventures are initially prepared using the accounting principles accepted in the respective joint ventures’ countries of domicile. Amounts related to foreign joint ventures reported in the below tables and the accompanying financial statements have subsequently been adjusted to conform with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America in all material respects. All material profits recorded on sales from the Company to its joint ventures and from joint ventures to other joint ventures have been eliminated for financial reporting purposes. Financial information of the Company’s joint venture in Germany, Excor Korrosionsschutz – Technologien und Produkte GmbH (EXCOR), China, Tianjin-Zerust Anticorrosion Co., Ltd. (Tianjin Zerust) (See Note 8), Finland and India for the periods for which it was accounted for under the equity method and all of the Company’s other joint ventures, are summarized as follows:
|  | August 31, 2015
|  | TOTAL |  | EXCOR |  | India |  | Finland |  | All Other
Current assets |  | $ | 49,295,116 |  |  | $ | 22,620,323 |  |  | $ | 4,035,396 |  |  | $ | 1,415,816 |  |  | $ | 21,223,581 |
Total assets |  |  | 52,853,938 |  |  |  | 24,606,880 |  |  |  | 4,328,196 |  |  |  | 2,197,047 |  |  |  | 21,721,815 |
Current liabilities |  |  | 12,288,383 |  |  |  | 3,360,142 |  |  |  | 1,030,718 |  |  |  | 178,961 |  |  |  | 7,718,562 |
Noncurrent liabilities |  |  | 1,215,139 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 155,168 |  |  |  | 433,624 |  |  |  | 626,347 |
Joint ventures’ equity |  |  | 39,350,417 |  |  |  | 21,246,738 |  |  |  | 3,142,310 |  |  |  | 1,584,461 |  |  |  | 13,376,908 |
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of joint ventures’ equity |  |  | 20,544,238 |  |  |  | 11,571,361 |  |  |  | 1,482,342 |  |  |  | 840,263 |  |  |  | 6,650,272 |
Northern Technologies International Corporation's share of joint ventures’ undistributed earnings |  | $ | 18,483,377 |  |  | $ | 11,540,456 |  |  | $ | 617,520 |  |  | $ | 820,263 |  |  | $ | 5,505,138 |
|  | Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2015
|  | TOTAL |  | EXCOR |  | India |  | Finland |  | All Other
Net sales |  | $ | 99,026,251 |  |  | $ | 36,872,664 |  |  | $ | 7,000,715 |  |  | $ | 3,557,252 |  |  | $ | 51,595,620 |
Gross profit |  |  | 48,397,318 |  |  |  | 19,993,763 |  |  |  | 3,292,243 |  |  |  | 1,858,310 |  |  |  | 23,253,002 |
Net income |  |  | 11,849,107 |  |  |  | 8,201,659 |  |  |  | 983,179 |  |  |  | 518,900 |  |  |  | 2,145,369 |
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of equity in income from joint ventures |  | $ | 5,936,565 |  |  | $ | 4,091,608 |  |  | $ | 492,379 |  |  | $ | 263,749 |  |  | $ | 1,088,829 |
|  | August 31, 2014
|  | TOTAL |  | EXCOR |  | Tianjin Zerust |  | All Other
Current assets |  | $ | 61,491,957 |  |  | $ | 24,361,157 |  |  | $ | 9,774,680 |  |  | $ | 27,356,120 |
Total assets |  |  | 65,466,964 |  |  |  | 26,652,165 |  |  |  | 9,793,803 |  |  |  | 29,020,996 |
Current liabilities |  |  | 17,542,634 |  |  |  | 3,512,143 |  |  |  | 4,438,380 |  |  |  | 9,592,111 |
Noncurrent liabilities |  |  | 1,929,488 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 868,377 |  |  |  | 1,061,111 |
Joint ventures’ equity |  |  | 45,994,842 |  |  |  | 23,140,022 |  |  |  | 4,487,046 |  |  |  | 18,367,775 |
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of joint ventures’ equity |  |  | 22,961,989 |  |  |  | 11,570,013 |  |  |  | 2,243,524 |  |  |  | 9,148,452 |
Northern Technologies International Corporation's share of joint ventures’ undistributed earnings |  | $ | 20,540,523 |  |  | $ | 11,539,108 |  |  | $ | 2,193,524 |  |  | $ | 6,807,891 |
|  | Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2014
|  | TOTAL |  | EXCOR |  | Tianjin Zerust |  | All Other
Net sales |  | $ | 118,848,890 |  |  | $ | 39,944,812 |  |  | $ | 15,920,685 |  |  | $ | 62,983,393 |
Gross profit |  |  | 56,960,918 |  |  |  | 21,045,091 |  |  |  | 7,463,168 |  |  |  | 28,452,659 |
Net income |  |  | 11,842,338 |  |  |  | 7,906,693 |  |  |  | 1,274,487 |  |  |  | 2,661,158 |
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of equity in income from joint ventures |  | $ | 5,920,603 |  |  | $ | 3,950,915 |  |  | $ | 626,763 |  |  | $ | 1,342,925 |
|  | Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2013
|  | TOTAL |  | EXCOR |  | Tianjin Zerust |  | All Other
Net sales |  | $ | 113,189,068 |  |  | $ | 36,476,544 |  |  | $ | 15,161,289 |  |  | $ | 61,551,235 |
Gross profit |  |  | 52,058,609 |  |  |  | 19,470,322 |  |  |  | 7,153,395 |  |  |  | 25,434,891 |
Net income |  |  | 10,650,542 |  |  |  | 7,009,897 |  |  |  | 1,157,995 |  |  |  | 2,482,650 |
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of equity in income from joint ventures |  | $ | 5,237,711 |  |  | $ | 3,507,057 |  |  | $ | 579,376 |  |  | $ | 1,151,278 |
On January 2, 2015, the Company announced that, effective as of December 31, 2014, the Company terminated its joint venture agreements with its previous joint venture in China, Tianjin Zerust, and began the process of liquidating the joint venture entity. Since December 31, 2014, the Company has conducted business in China through a wholly-owned subsidiary, NTIC (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. As of December 31, 2014, the Company started recognizing Tianjin Zerust based on its carrying value instead of the equity method since the Company no longer expects to significantly affect the joint venture’s operations or decision making. See Note 8. Because of the lack of financial and other information received from Tianjin Zerust, it is possible that receipt of future financial and other information from Tianjin Zerust may impact the realization of NTIC’s investment in and realization of a receivable from Tianjin Zerust. The last time the Company received financial information from Tianjin Zerust was through November 2014. NTIC as of August 31, 2015, does not believe there are any triggering events that would require an impairment test. NTIC’s current net investment is approximately $1.1 million, which is 60% of its investment in Tianjin Zerust, which was $1,883,668 as of August 31, 2015. The Company will continue to evaluate the realization of this asset on an ongoing basis and adjust if necessary. The Company records expenses that are directly attributable to the joint ventures on its consolidated statements of operations in the line item “Expenses incurred in support of joint ventures.” The expenses include items such as employee compensation and benefit expenses, travel expense and consulting expense. The Company did not make any joint venture investments during fiscal 2015. On May 31, 2014, NTI Asean purchased the other 50% ownership interest in its joint venture in Singapore for $110,988. The Company did not make any other joint venture investments during fiscal 2014. On November 30, 2013, the Company agreed to sell its indirect ownership interest in Mütec GmbH (Mütec), the Company’s former joint venture in Germany which manufactures proprietary electronic sensing instruments. In connection with the transaction, the owner of Mütec borrowed $168,000 from the Company to be repaid over four years with no interest. As of August 31, 2015 and August 31, 2014, $125,891 and $156,854 was due to the Company related to this transaction.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for equity method investments and joint ventures. Equity method investments are investments that give the investor the ability to exercise significant influence over the operating and financial policies of an investee. Joint ventures are entities owned and operated by a small group of businesses as a separate and specific business or project for the mutual benefit of the members of the group. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6382943&loc=d3e33918-111571 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 35 -Paragraph 35 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49116238&loc=d3e32847-111569 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Section 35 -Paragraph 32 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49116238&loc=d3e32787-111569 + Details
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