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5. PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT, NET
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]  
5. PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT, NET

Property, plant and equipment, net consist of the following:

 

    As of December 31,  
    2013     2012  
At cost:            
Mineral rights   $ 6,530,158     $ 6,334,277  
Buildings     53,343,419       50,905,337  
Plant and machinery     172,842,611       166,121,329  
Motor vehicles     9,423       9,140  
Furniture, fixtures and office equipment     4,902,627       4,777,044  
Total     237,628,238       228,147,127  
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization     (91,227,802 )     (62,204,585 )
Net book value   $ 146,400,436     $ 165,942,542  

 

The Company has certain buildings and salt pans erected on parcels of land located in Shouguang, PRC, and such parcels of land are collectively owned by local townships. The Company has not been able to obtain property ownership certificates over these buildings and salt pans as the Company could not obtain land use rights certificates on the underlying parcels of land. The Company could not obtain property ownership certificates covering certain properties of aggregate carrying value of $39,565,302 and $39,563,438 as at December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

 

During the year ended December 31, 2013, depreciation and amortization expense totaled $27,109,455 of which $25,311,885 and $1,797,570 were recorded as cost of net revenue and administrative expenses, respectively.

 

During the year ended December 31, 2012, depreciation and amortization expense totaled $22,972,873 of which $22,033,952 and $938,920 were recorded as cost of net revenue and administrative expenses, respectively.

 

In the second quarter of 2012, the Company carried out the second phase enhancement projects to the Company’s existing bromine extraction and crude salt production facilities. In particular, the Company incurred enhancement works in Factories No. 1 to 9 at costs of approximately $12,786,791 to the extraction wells and approximately $8,125,659 to the protective shells to transmission channels and ducts. The above enhancement projects have estimated useful lives of 5 to 8 years and are capitalized as buildings and plant and machinery.

 

In the third quarter of 2012, the company carried out two enhancement projects to its existing bromine and chemical products production facilities, in particular, the company incurred enhancement work to the bromine production facilities in Factory No. 2 at a cost of approximately $1,256,506 and enhancement work to the chemical products production facilities at a cost of approximately $1,498,150. The above enhancement projects have estimated useful lives of 5 to 20 years and are capitalized as plant and machinery.

 

On September 25, 2012, the Company purchased five stories of a commercial building in the PRC, through SYCI, from Shandong Shouguang Vegetable Seed Industry Group Co., Ltd. at a cost of approximately $5.7 million in cash, in which Mr. Ming Yang, the Chairman of the Company, had a 99% equity interest. The cost of the five stories of the commercial building was valued by an independent appraiser to its fair value and recorded as property, plant and equipment. The Company uses the property as the new headquarters.

 

On October 23, 2012, the Company entered into an agreement with a subcontractor for the renovation of the new office headquarters( the newly acquired five stories of commercial building) at a cost of approximately $1.86 million, which was capitalized as building upon completion.

 

In late September 2013, the Transportation Bureau of Dongying City and other local government agencies requested to requisition the land where the original Factory No. 3 of SCHC was located for railway construction.

 

The operations of the original Factory No. 3 were stopped in September 2013 to allow for the demolition and relocation of the factory. During the relocation, net book value of plant and machinery of $ 307,182 was written off and demolition costs of $1,059,965 were incurred. A new factory was constructed for the amount of $3,186,609 on the same piece of land near to the where the original factory was located. The relocation and the construction of the new factory were completed in December 2013 and the new Factory No. 3 started operations in the same month.

 

Upon completion of demolition and clearance of all ground fixtures in October 2013, a sum of $3,868,483 was received in the same month from the Transportation Bureau of Dongying City and other local government agencies as compensation for the demolition of original Factory No. 3. The write-off and demolition costs were offset against the compensation proceeds resulting in a net gain on location of factory of $2,501,336. This is included in the income statement for the year ended December 31, 2013 as gain on relocation of factory. This is accounted for in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 605-40 “Revenue Recognition – Gains and Losses”.

 

For the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, ordinary repair and maintenance expenses were $1,566 and $1,612,720, respectively.