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Employee Benefit Plans
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Employee Benefit Plans Employee Benefit Plans
    We sponsor a defined benefit pension plan for union-only employees of our Alkali Business. We account for the Alkali Business pension plan as a single employer pension plan that benefits only employees of our Alkali Business, and thus, the related assets and liability costs of the plan are recorded in the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Under the Alkali Business pension plan, each eligible employee will automatically become a participant upon completion of one year of credited service. Retirement benefits under this plan are calculated based on the total years of service of an eligible participant, multiplied by a specified benefit rate in effect at the termination of the plan participant's years of service. During 2019, we completed collective bargaining negotiations with our union employees. As a result, the pension plan was amended to increase the future benefit rate and pension supplement amounts.
    The change in benefit obligations, plan assets and funded status along with amounts recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheet are as follows:
December 31,
20202019
Change in benefit obligation:
Benefit Obligation, beginning of year$42,291 $24,511 
Service Cost5,493 4,351 
Interest Cost1,469 1,340 
Plan Amendment— 6,569 
Actuarial Loss4,005 5,981 
Benefits Paid(748)(461)
Benefit Obligation, end of year52,510 42,291 
Change in plan assets:
Fair Value of Plan Assets, beginning of year24,051 15,716 
Actual Return on Plan Assets4,123 4,025 
Employer Contributions4,617 4,771 
Benefits Paid(748)(461)
Fair Value of Plan assets, end of year32,043 24,051 
Funded Status at end of period$(20,467)$(18,240)
Amounts recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheet:
Non-current assets$— $— 
Current liabilities— — 
Non-current Liabilities(20,467)(18,240)
Net Liability at end of year$(20,467)$(18,240)
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss:
Prior Service Cost5,676 6,163 
Net actuarial loss3,689 2,268 
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss:$9,365 $8,431 
Estimated Future Cash Flows- The following employer contributions and benefit payments, which reflect expected future service, are expected to be paid as follows:
Employer Contributions
Expected 2021 Contributions by Employer$3,905 
Future Expected Benefit Payments
2021$1,052 
20221,307 
20231,487 
20241,647 
20251,828 
2026-203011,754 

Net Periodic Pension Costs- The components of net periodic pension costs for the Alkali benefit plan are as follows:
December 31,
202020192018
Service Cost$5,493 $4,351 $5,153 
Interest Cost1,469 1,340 862 
Expected Return on Assets(1,539)(1,252)(973)
Amortization of Prior Service Cost487 406 — 
Total Net Periodic Benefit Costs $5,910 $4,845 $5,042 

Significant Assumptions-     Discount rates are determined annually and are based on rates of return of high-quality long-term fixed income securities currently available and expected to be available during the maturity of the pension benefits.
    The long-term rate of return estimation for the Alkali Business pension plan is based on a capital asset pricing model using historical data and a forecasted earnings model. An expected return on plan assets analysis is performed which incorporates the current portfolio allocation, historical asset-class returns and an assessment of expected future performance using asset-class risk factors.
    The Alkali Business pension plan is administered by a Board-appointed committee that has fiduciary responsibility for the plan's management. The committee is responsible for the oversight and management of the plan's investments. The committee maintains an investment policy that provides guidelines for selection and retention of investment managers or funds, allocation of plan assets and performance review procedures and updating of the policy. The objective of the committee's investment policy is to manage the plan assets in such a way that will allow for the on-going payment of the Company's obligation to the beneficiaries.
Weighted average assumptions used to determine benefit obligation:December 31, 2020December 31, 2019
Discount Rate3.06 %3.56 %
Expected Long-term Rate of Return5.47 %6.06 %
Rate of Compensation IncreaseN/AN/A
The discount rate used to determine the net periodic cost at the beginning of the period was 3.56%.

Pension Plan Assets - We maintain target allocation percentages among various asset classes based on an investment policy established for the pension plan, which was last amended in November 2020. The target allocation is designed based on the strategic objectives, spending policy and risk tolerance of the plan. Pension plan asset allocations at December 31, 2020 by asset category are as follows:
December 31, 2020
Target %MinimumMaximum
Equity securities67 %58 %76 %
Fixed Income20 %11 %29 %
Alternative Investments11 %%20 %
Cash and Equivalents%— %%

A summary of total investments for our pension plan assets measured at fair value is presented as of December 31 for the periods below:
20202019
Level 1Level 2Level 3TotalLevel 1Level 2Level 3Total
Cash and cash equivalents$32,043 $— $— $32,043 $1,311 $— $— $1,311 
Equity securities— — — — 13,192 — — 13,192 
Mutual and other exchange traded funds— — — — 9,548 — — 9,548 
$32,043 $— $— $32,043 $24,051 $— $— $24,051 

As identified above, all of our plan assets as of December 31, 2020 were held in cash and equivalents. On January 1, 2021 we switched the trustee of our plan assets and the investment advisors for our plan assets, also modifying our investment advisor fiduciary services from a 3(21) to a 3(38) which allows the advisors more investment discretion. In order to prepare for this switch, we had to move our investments to cash and equivalents on December 31, 2020. Beginning in January 2021, we plan to align with our target allocations discussed above.