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Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Aug. 31, 2018
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Environmental We are required to comply with various environmental laws and regulations incidental to our normal business operations. To meet our compliance requirements, we establish reserves for the probable future costs of remediation of identified issues, which are included in cost of goods sold and marketing, general and administrative in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. The resolution of any such matters may affect consolidated net income for any fiscal period; however, we believe any resulting liabilities, individually or in the aggregate, will not have a material effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows during any fiscal year. Other Litigation and Claims We are involved as a defendant in various lawsuits, claims and disputes, which are in the normal course of our business. The resolution of any such matters may affect consolidated net income for any fiscal period; however, we believe any resulting liabilities, individually or in the aggregate, will not have a material effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows during any fiscal year. Guarantees We are a guarantor for lines of credit and performance obligations of related, non-consolidated companies. Our bank covenants allow maximum guarantees of $1.0 billion, of which $122.3 million were outstanding on August 31, 2018. We have collateral for a portion of these contingent obligations. We have not recorded a liability related to the contingent obligations as we do not expect to pay out any cash related to them, and the fair values are considered immaterial. The underlying loans to the counterparties for which we provide these guarantees are current as of August 31, 2018. Credit Commitments CHS Capital has commitments to extend credit to customers if there is no violation of any condition established in the contracts. As of August 31, 2018, CHS Capital’s customers have additional available credit of $706.3 million. Lease Commitments We lease certain property, plant and equipment used in our operations under both capital and operating lease agreements. Many leases contain renewal options and escalation clauses. Our operating leases, which are primarily for rail cars, equipment, vehicles and office space have remaining terms of one to 19 years. Total rental expense for operating leases was $88.5 million, $81.3 million and $74.7 million for the years ended August 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. On November 30, 2017, we completed a sale-leaseback transaction for our primary corporate office building located in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Simultaneous with the closing of the sale of the building we entered into a 20-year operating lease arrangement with respect to the building, with base annual rent of approximately $3.4 million during the first year, followed by annual increases of 2% through the remainder of the lease period. We lease certain rail cars, equipment, vehicles and other assets under capital lease arrangements. These assets are included in property, plant and equipment on our Consolidated Balance Sheets while the corresponding capital lease obligations are included in long-term debt. See Note 6, Property, Plant and Equipment and Note 8, Notes Payable and Long-Term Debt for more information about capital leases. Minimum future lease payments required under noncancelable operating leases as of August 31, 2018, are as follows:
| (Dollars in thousands)
2019 | $ | 103,800 |
2020 | 50,653 |
2021 | 41,428 |
2022 | 29,733 |
2023 | 22,648 |
Thereafter | 103,800 |
Total minimum future lease payments | $ | 352,062 |
Unconditional Purchase Obligations Unconditional purchase obligations are commitments to transfer funds in the future for fixed or minimum amounts or quantities of goods or services at fixed or minimum prices. Our long-term unconditional purchase obligations primarily relate to pipeline and grain handling take-or-pay and through-put agreements and are not recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of August 31, 2018, minimum future payments required under long-term commitments that are noncancelable, and that third parties have used to secure financing for the facilities that will provide the contracted goods, are as follows:
| Payments Due by Period
| Total |  | 2019 |  | 2020 |  | 2021 |  | 2022 |  | 2023 |  | Thereafter
| (Dollars in thousands)
Long-term unconditional purchase obligations | $ | 639,010 |  |  | $ | 54,631 |  |  | $ | 57,152 |  |  | $ | 57,523 |  |  | $ | 57,947 |  |  | $ | 58,372 |  |  | $ | 353,385 |
Total payments under these arrangements were $61.4 million, $70.5 million and $88.0 million for the years ended August 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. Gain Contingency As of August 31, 2018, a gain contingency resulted from applying ASC Topic 450-30, Gain Contingencies, to the facts and circumstances surrounding the potential for certain excise tax credits associated with manufacturing changes within our Energy business. The resulting gain, if recognized, will likely have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for commitments and contingencies. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2127136 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 440 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2144648 + Details
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