Contingencies

Environmental

Quanex is subject to extensive laws and regulations concerning the discharge of materials into the environment and the remediation of chemical contamination. To satisfy such requirements, Quanex must make capital and other expenditures on an ongoing basis. The Company accrues its best estimates of its remediation obligations and adjusts such accruals as further information and circumstances develop. Those estimates may change substantially depending on information about the nature and extent of contamination, appropriate remediation technologies, and regulatory approvals. In accruing for environmental remediation liabilities, costs of future expenditures are not discounted to their present value, unless the amount and timing of the expenditures are fixed or reliably determinable. When environmental laws might be deemed to impose joint and several liability for the costs of responding to contamination, the Company accrues its allocable share of liability taking into account the number of parties participating, their ability to pay their shares, the volumes and nature of the wastes involved, the nature of anticipated response actions, and the nature of the Company’s alleged connections. The cost of environmental matters has not had a material adverse effect on Quanex’s operations or financial condition in the past, and management is not currently aware of any conditions that it believes are likely to have a material adverse effect on Quanex’s operations, financial condition or cash flows.

The table below indicates the total environmental reserve and corresponding recovery balances as well as where these balances are reported on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of January 31, 2013 and October 31, 2012:



	January 31, 2013		October 31, 2012
	(In thousands)
Accrued liabilities	$	1,700	$	1,700
Non-current environmental reserves	9,480		9,827
Total environmental reserves	$	11,180	$	11,527

Accounts receivable	$	436	$	821
Other assets (non-current)	10,062		10,374
Total receivable for recovery of remediation costs	$	10,498	$	11,195

Currently, the Company’s ongoing remediation activities are at one of its subsidiaries, Nichols Aluminum-Alabama, LLC (NAA). NAA operates a plant in Decatur, Alabama that is subject to an Alabama Hazardous Wastes Management and Minimization Act Post-Closure Permit. Among other things, the permit requires NAA to remediate, as directed by the state, historical environmental releases of wastes and waste constituents. Consistent with the permit, NAA has undertaken various studies of site conditions and, during the first quarter of 2006, started a phased program to treat in-place free product petroleum that had been released underneath the plant. During the second quarter 2010, NAA submitted to the state the first component of its proposed workplan for implementing a site-wide remedy. The full workplan was submitted to the state during the third quarter 2010, revised during the second quarter 2011 to reflect both additional sampling data and responses to state comments, and revised again in the fourth quarter 2011 in response to another round of state comments. Based on those plans, which remain subject to further comment, revision, and state approval, the Company’s remediation reserve at NAA’s Decatur plant is $11.2 million as of January 31, 2013. Approximately $1.1 million of the January 31, 2013 reserve represents administrative costs; the balance of $10.1 million represents estimated costs for investigation, studies, cleanup, and treatment. The reserve has not been discounted. NAA was acquired through a stock purchase in which the sellers agreed to indemnify Quanex and NAA for identified environmental matters related to the business and based on conditions initially created or events initially occurring prior to the acquisition. Environmental conditions are presumed to relate to the period prior to the acquisition unless proved to relate to releases occurring entirely after closing. The limit on indemnification is $21.5 million excluding legal fees. While the Company’s current estimates indicate it will not reach this limit, changing circumstances could result in additional costs or expense that are not foreseen at this time. In accordance with the indemnification, the indemnitors paid the first $1.5 million of response costs and have been paying 90% of ongoing costs. Based on its experience to date, its estimated cleanup costs going forward, and costs incurred to date as of January 31, 2013, the Company expects to recover from the sellers’ shareholders an additional $10.5 million which has not been discounted. The undiscounted recovery from indemnitors as of October 31, 2012 was $11.2 million.

The Company’s final remediation costs and the timing of those expenditures will depend upon such factors as the nature and extent of contamination, the cleanup technologies employed, the effectiveness of the cleanup measures that are employed, and regulatory concurrences. While actual remediation costs, therefore, may be more or less than amounts accrued, the Company believes it has established adequate reserves for all probable and reasonably estimable remediation liabilities. It is not possible at this point to reasonably estimate the amount of any obligation for remediation in excess of current accruals because of uncertainties as to the extent of environmental impact, cleanup technologies, and concurrence of governmental authorities. The Company currently expects to pay the accrued remediation reserve through at least fiscal 2034, although some of the same factors discussed earlier could accelerate or extend the timing.

Other

From time to time, the Company and its subsidiaries are involved in various litigation matters arising in the ordinary course of their business. Although the ultimate resolution and impact of such litigation on the Company is not presently determinable, the Company’s management believes that the eventual outcome of such litigation will not have a material adverse effect on the overall financial condition, results of operations or cash flows of the Company.