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1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND CONSOLIDATION
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

(a)           Basis of Presentation and Consolidation

 

The accompanying condensed financial statements have been prepared by Gulf Resources, Inc (“Gulf Resources”). a Nevada corporation and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”), without audit, in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and, therefore, do not necessarily include all information and footnotes necessary for a fair statement of its financial position, results of operations and cash flows in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“US GAAP”).

 

In the opinion of management, the unaudited financial information for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 presented reflects all adjustments, which are only normal and recurring, necessary for a fair statement of results of operations, financial position and cash flows. These condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements included in the Company’s 2017 Form 10-K/A (Amendment No. 2). Operating results for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of operating results for an entire fiscal year.

 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts that are reported in the financial statements and accompanying disclosures. Although these estimates are based on management’s best knowledge of current events and actions that the Company may undertake in the future, actual results may be different from the estimates. The Company also exercises judgments in the preparation of these condensed financial statements in certain areas, including classification of leases and related party transactions.

 

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Gulf Resources, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Upper Class Group Limited, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, which owns 100% of Hong Kong Jiaxing Industrial Limited, a company incorporated in Hong Kong (“HKJI”). HKJI owns 100% of Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC") which owns 100% of Shouguang Yuxin Chemical Industry Co., Limited (“SYCI”) and Daying County Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited (“DCHC”).  All material intercompany transactions have been eliminated on consolidation.

 

(b)           Nature of the Business

 

The Company manufactures and trades bromine and crude salt through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC") and manufactures chemical products for use in the oil industry, pesticides, paper manufacturing industry and for human and animal antibiotics through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Shouguang Yuxin Chemical Industry Co., Limited ("SYCI") in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). DCHC was established to further explore and develop natural gas and brine resources (including bromine and crude salt) in the PRC. DCHC’s business was not fully operational as of June 30, 2018.

 

On September 1, 2017, the Company received notification from the Government of Yangkou County, Shouguang City of PRC that production at all its factories should be halted with immediate effect in order for the Company to perform rectification and improvement in accordance with the county’s new safety and environmental protection requirements.

 

The Company has been working closely with the county authorities to develop rectification plans for both its bromine and crude salt businesses and agreed on a plan in October 2017. SCHC is currently under rectification process. The Company believes this rectification process will cost approximately $35 million. In addition to the $35 million, the Company expects to spend an additional $40 million in 2018 to carry out enhancement projects for its extraction wells. The Company incurred rectification and improvements in the amount of $27,048,794 and $17,938,652 as of June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017.

 

Originally, six bromine factories completed their rectification process within factory areas (i.e. excluding crude salt field area) and were approved and scheduled for production commencement by April 2018 as verbally indicated by the local government. Subsequently, the Shandong Provincial government required the local government to conduct “four rating and one comprehensive evaluation” for all of the chemical companies within its jurisdiction. This has delayed the production commencement schedule of the six bromine and crude salt factories. As of current date, the Company has not received any official approval from the government.

 

Four of the remaining bromine and crude salt factories have a slightly more complex issue that needs to be resolved. All bromine factories now require paired crude salt pans to prevent the halogen water resulting from the production process from flowing into the sea. Four of these bromine factories do not have a designated crude salt pan where the wastewater could be channeled. The Company has four alternatives for these four factories which do not have paired crude salt pans: 1. It can form partnerships with adjacent bromine facilities that do have crude salt pans. The nature of these partnerships could take many forms. At present, the Company is communicating with a third party about the waste water discharge of the Factory No 10. If an agreement is reached, the Company will invest RMB7 million to build a new aqueduct and discharge the waste water to the designated place for treatment by the designated party. 2. The Company could petition the government for a zoning change so that additional land for salt pans could be obtained. The Company believes this might be difficult but is worth pursuing; 3. The Company could negotiate a different method of dealing with this issue; or, 4. These factories could conceivably be forced to close. At the present time, the Company is also working with the government on these issues and has not reached any final solution yet.

 

Subsequently on June 29 2018, the Company received a formal notice (dated June 25, 2018) jointly issued by various provincial government agencies in Shandong Province (the “Notice”) forwarded by the Weifang City Special Operations Leading Group Office of Safe Production, Transformation and Upgrading of Chemical Industry. In the Notice, the provincial government agencies set forth further requirements and procedures covering the following four aspects for the chemical industrial enterprises: project approval, planning approval, land use rights approval and environmental protection assessment approval. Those standards and procedures apply to all chemical industrial enterprises in Shandong Province including the Company’s bromine plants that have not completed project approval procedures, planning approval procedures, land use rights approval procedures and environmental protection assessment procedures. The Company believes that the government will not grant approval to the Company to allow its bromine and crude salt plants to resume operations until the Company has fully complied with the aforesaid rules set forth in the Notice.

 

The Shouguang City Bromine Association, on behalf of all the bromine plants in Shouguang, has started discussions with the local government agencies. The local governmental agencies confirmed the facts that their initial requirements for the bromine industry did not include the project approval, the planning approval and the land use rights approval and that those three additional approvals were new requirements of the provincial government. We understood from the local government that it has been coordinating with several government agencies to solve these three outstanding approval issues in a timely manner and that all the affected bromine plants are not allowed to commence production prior to obtaining those approvals.

 

The Company is not certain how long the temporary delay will be due to the issuance and implement of the Notice. The Company believes that this is another step by the government to improve the environment. It further believes the goal of the government is not to close all plants, but rather to codify the regulations related to project approval, land use, planning approval and environmental protection assessment approval so that illegal plants are not able to open in the future and so that plants close to population centers do not cause serious environmental damage. In addition, the Company believes that the Shandong provincial government wants to assure that each of its regional and county governments has applied the Notice in a consistent manner.

 

On November 24, 2017, the Company received a letter from the Government of Yangkou County, Shouguang City notifying the Company to relocate its two chemical production plants located in the second living area of the Qinghe Oil Extraction Plant to the Bohai Marine Fine Chemical Industrial Park (“Bohai Park”). This is because the two plants are located in a residential area and their production activities will impact the living environment of the residents. This is as a result of the country’s effort to improve the development of the chemical industry, manage safe production and curb environmental pollution accidents effectively, and ensure the quality of the living environment of residents. All chemical enterprises which do not comply with the requirements of the safety and environmental protection regulations will be ordered to shut down. The Company believes this relocation process will cost approximately $60 million in total. The Company incurred relocation cost in the amount of $10,925,081 and $9,732,118 as of June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 and estimated that the new factory will be fully operational by the beginning of 2020.

 

The Company does not anticipate that the Company’s new chemical factory will be significantly impacted by the Notice. The Company has secured from the government the land use rights for its chemical plants located at the Bohai Marine Fine Chemical Industry Park and presented a completed construction design draft and other related documents to the local authorities for approval. The Company expected to receive feedback from the local authorities. However, the Company does believe there could be a delay for the approval process given the ongoing rectification and approvals process for the Company’s other plants.

 

In January 2017, the Company completed the first brine water and natural gas well field construction in Sichuan Province and announced the commencement of trial production. The Company has been working with Xinan Shiyou Daxue (Southwest Petroleum University) and developed a solution to DHCH’s technical drilling problem. In resolving the problem, the Company purchased customized equipment for its natural gas project. The installation of such equipment, including providing piping and electricity, was completed in July 2018. The Company is preparing to test the equipment and anticipates to begin the trial production in September 2018.

 

(c)           Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

 

As of June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, allowances for doubtful accounts were nil. No allowances for doubtful accounts were charged to the condensed consolidated statements of income (loss) for the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2018 and 2017.

 

(d)           Concentration of Credit Risk

 

The Company is exposed to credit risk in the normal course of business, primarily related to accounts receivable and cash and cash equivalents. Substantially all of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents are maintained with financial institutions in the PRC, namely, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, China Merchants Bank Company Limited and Sichuan Rural Credit Union, which are not insured or otherwise protected. The Company placed $215,975,864 and $208,906,759 with these institutions as of June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.  The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts in the PRC.

 

Concentrations of credit risk with respect to accounts receivable exists as the Company sells a substantial portion of its products to a limited number of customers. However, such concentrations of credit risks are limited since the Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition and extends credit terms as and when appropriate. Approximately 0% and 13% of the balances of accounts receivable as of June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, are outstanding for less than three months. All outstanding receivables as of June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 are within the credit terms. For the balances of accounts receivable aged more than 90 days and all accounts receivable as of June 30, 2018, approximately 28% were collected in July 2018. 

 

The rate of collection in July 2018 for accounts receivable aged more than 90 days as of June 30, 2018 was analyzed as follows:

 

Accounts Receivable Aging Percent Collected
90-120 days   0%
121-150 days   0%
151-180 days 0%
181-210 days 16%
211-240 days 100%

 

(e)           Property, Plant and Equipment

 

Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any impairment losses. Expenditures for new facilities or equipment, and major expenditures for betterment of existing facilities or equipment are capitalized and depreciated, when available for intended use, using the straight-line method at rates sufficient to depreciate such costs less 5% residual value over the estimated productive lives. All other ordinary repair and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred.

 

Mineral rights are recorded at cost less accumulated depreciation and any impairment losses. Mineral rights are amortized ratably over the term of the lease, or the equivalent term under the units of production method, whichever is shorter.

 

Construction in process primarily represents direct costs of construction of plant, machinery and equipment. Costs incurred are capitalized and transferred to property and equipment upon completion.

 

The Company’s depreciation and amortization policies on property, plant and equipment, other than mineral rights and construction in process, are as follows:

 

   

Useful life

(in years)

Buildings (including salt pans)     8 - 20  
Plant and machinery (including protective shells, transmission channels and ducts)     3 - 8  
Motor vehicles     5  
Furniture, fixtures and equipment     3-8  

 

Property, plant and equipment under the capital lease are depreciated over their expected useful lives on the same basis as owned assets, or where shorter, the term of the lease, which is 20 years.

 

Producing oil and gas properties are depreciated on a unit-of-production basis over the proved developed reserves. Common facilities that are built specifically to service production directly attributed to designated oil and gas properties are depreciated based on the proved developed reserves of the respective oil and gas properties on a pro-rata basis. Common facilities that are not built specifically to service identified oil and gas properties are depreciated using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives. Costs associated with significant development projects are not depreciated until commercial production commences and the reserves related to those costs are excluded from the calculation of depreciation.

 

(f)           Retirement Benefits

 

Pursuant to the relevant laws and regulations in the PRC, the Company participates in a defined contribution retirement plan for its employees arranged by a governmental organization. The Company makes contributions to the retirement plan at the applicable rate based on the employees’ salaries. The required contributions under the retirement plans are charged to the condensed consolidated statement of income (loss) on an accrual basis when they are due. The Company’s contributions totaled $301,657 and $257,660 for the three-month period ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and totaled $604,075 and $512,876 for the six-month period ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

(g)           Revenue Recognition

 

Net revenue is net of discount and value added tax and comprises the sale of bromine, crude salt and chemical products. Revenue is recognized when the control of the promised goods is transferred to the customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that the Company expects to receive from the customers in exchange for those goods. The acknowledgement of receipt of goods by the customers is when control of the product is deemed to be transferred. Invoicing occurs upon acknowledgement of receipt of the goods by the customers. Customers have no rights to return the goods upon acknowledgement of receipt of goods.

 

(h)           Recoverability of Long-lived Assets

 

In accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 360-10-35“Impairment or Disposal of Long-lived Assets”, long-lived assets to be held and used are analyzed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be fully recoverable or that the useful lives of those assets are no longer appropriate. The Company evaluates at each balance sheet date whether events and circumstances have occurred that indicate possible impairment.

 

The Company determines the existence of such impairment by measuring the expected future cash flows (undiscounted and without interest charges) and comparing such amount to the carrying amount of the assets. An impairment loss, if one exists, is then measured as the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the discounted estimated future cash flows. Assets to be disposed of are reported at the lower of the carrying amount or fair value of such assets less costs to sell. Asset impairment charges are recorded to reduce the carrying amount of the long-lived asset that will be sold or disposed of to their estimated fair values. Charges for the asset impairment reduce the carrying amount of the long-lived assets to their estimated salvage value in connection with the decision to dispose of such assets.

 

For the three and six months period ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, the Company determined that there were no events or circumstances indicating possible impairment of its long-lived assets.

 

(i)           Basic and Diluted Earnings per Share of Common Stock

 

Basic earnings per common share are based on the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the periods presented.  Diluted earnings per share are computed using weighted average number of common shares plus dilutive common share equivalents outstanding during the period. Potential common shares that would have the effect of increasing diluted earnings per share are considered to be anti-dilutive, i.e. the exercise prices of the outstanding stock options were greater than the market price of the common stock. Anti-dilutive common stock equivalents which were excluded from the calculation of number of dilutive common stock equivalents amounted to 89,684 and 39,155 shares for the three-month period ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and amounted to 82,649 and 32,077 shares for the six-month period ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. These awards could be dilutive in the future if the market price of the common stock increases and is greater than the exercise price of these awards.

 

The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share:

 

   

Three-Month Period Ended June 

30,

 

Six-Month Period Ended June

30,

    2018   2017   2018   2017
Numerator                
Net income/(loss)   $ (4,812,873 )   $ 13,751,678     $ (11,789,973 )   $ 21,826,798  
                                 
Denominator                                
Basic: Weighted-average common shares outstanding during the period     46,803,791       46,793,791       46,803,791       46,793,791  
Add: Dilutive effect of stock options           3,057       11,298       6,754  
Diluted     46,803,791       46,796,848       46,815,089       46,800,545  
                                 
Net income/(loss) per share                                
Basic   $ (0.10 )   $ 0.29     $ (0.25 )   $ 0.47  
Diluted   $ (0.10 )   $ 0.29     $ (0.25 )   $ 0.47  

 

(j)           Reporting Currency and Translation

 

The financial statements of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries are measured using the local currency, Renminbi (“RMB”), as the functional currency; whereas the functional currency and reporting currency of the Company is the United States dollar (“USD” or “$”).

 

As such, the Company uses the “current rate method” to translate its PRC operations from RMB into USD, as required under FASB ASC 830 “Foreign Currency Matters”. The assets and liabilities of its PRC operations are translated into USD using the rate of exchange prevailing at the balance sheet date. The capital accounts are translated at the historical rate. Adjustments resulting from the translation of the balance sheets of the Company’s PRC subsidiaries are recorded in stockholders’ equity as part of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). The statement of income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) is translated at average rate during the reporting period. Gains or losses resulting from transactions in currencies other than the functional currencies are recognized in net income (loss) for the reporting periods as part of general and administrative expense. The statement of cash flows is translated at average rate during the reporting period, with the exception of the consideration paid for the acquisition of business which is translated at historical rates.

 

(k)           Foreign Operations

 

All of the Company’s operations and assets are located in PRC.  The Company may be adversely affected by possible political or economic events in this country.  The effect of these factors cannot be accurately predicted.

 

(l)           Exploration Costs

 

Exploration costs, which included the cost of researching appropriate places to drill wells and the cost of well drilling in search of potential natural brine or other resources, are charged to the income (loss) statement as incurred. Once the commercial viability of a project has been confirmed, all subsequent costs are capitalized.

 

For oil and gas properties, the successful efforts method of accounting is adopted. The Company carries exploratory well costs as an asset when the well has found a sufficient quantity of reserves to justify its completion as a producing well and where the Company is making sufficient progress assessing the reserves and the economic and operating viability of the project. Exploratory well costs not meeting these criteria are charged to expenses. Exploratory wells that discover potentially economic reserves in areas where major capital expenditure will be required before production would begin and when the major capital expenditure depends upon the successful completion of further exploratory work remain capitalized and are reviewed periodically for impairment.

 

(m)  Goodwill

 

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the net of the fair value of the identifiable tangible and intangible assets acquired and the fair value of liabilities assumed in business acquisitions. Goodwill impairment is assessed based on qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting entity is less than its carrying amount, including goodwill. If the Company determines that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting entity is less than its carrying amount, the two-step goodwill impairment test will be performed. The Company performs its impairment assessment annually and between annual tests in certain circumstances and determined that the two-step goodwill impairment test is not required to be carried out as of June 30, 2018.

 

(n)           New Accounting Pronouncements

 

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

 

In May 2014 and April 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09 and ASU No. 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In August 2015, FASB issued ASU 2015-14, which deferred the effective date of Update 2014-09 to annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company adopted this Update as of January 1, 2018. This adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 as the amount and timing of all the Company’s revenue will continue to be recognized at a point in time. As required by the Update, the Company disclosed its revenues from contracts with customers into disaggregated categories in Note 14.

 

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230), Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments. The Update addresses eight specific changes to how cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. The amendments in this Update are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. An entity that elects early adoption must adopt all of the amendments in the same period. The amendments in this Update should be applied using a retrospective transition method to each period presented. If it is impracticable to apply the amendments retrospectively for some of the issues, the amendments for those issues would be applied prospectively as of the earliest date practicable. The Company adopted this Update as of January 1, 2018 with no material impact on the condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018.

 

In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-09, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718), Scope of Modification Accounting. The amendments in this Update provide guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting. The amendments in this Update are effective for all entities for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2017. The amendments in this Update should be applied prospectively to an award modified on or after the adoption date. The Company adopted this Update as of January 1, 2018 with no material impact on the condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018.

 

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

 

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The amendments in this Update specify the accounting for leases. The core principle of Topic 842 is that a lessee should recognize the assets and liabilities that arise from leases. For public business entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the effect of this on the consolidated financial statements and related disclosure.

 

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326), Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. The amendments in this Update affect loans, debt securities, trade receivables, and any other financial assets that have the contractual right to receive cash. The ASU requires an entity to recognize expected credit losses rather than incurred losses for financial assets. For public entities, the amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the effect of this on the consolidated financial statements and related disclosure.

 

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350), Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. To simplify the subsequent measurement of goodwill, the Board eliminated Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Instead, under the amendments in this Update, an entity should perform its annual, or interim, goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. An entity should recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value; however, the loss recognized should not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. A public business entity that is a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filer should adopt the amendments in this Update for its annual or any interim goodwill impairment tests in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. The Company is currently evaluating effect of this on the consolidated financial statements and related disclosure.

 

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU No.2018-07, Compensation- Stock Compensation (Topic 718). Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting. The amendments in this update expand the scope of Topic 718 to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from nonemployees. Prior to this update, Top 718 applied only to share-based transactions to employees. Consistent with the accounting requirements for employee share-based payment awards, nonemployee share-based payment awards within the scope of Topic 718 are measured at grant-date fair value of the equity instruments that an entity is obligated to issue when the good has been delivered or the service has been rendered and any other conditions necessary to earn the right to benefit from the instruments have been satisfied. The amendments in the Update are effective for public business entities form fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within that fiscal year. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than an entity’s adoption date of Topic 606. This is not expected to have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.