Employee Benefit Plans

6 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2013

Employee Benefit Plans [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

Note K – Employee Benefit Plans

          The Company and certain of its international subsidiaries have defined benefit pension plans for many of their hourly and salaried employees. There are two types of U.S. plans. The first type of U.S. plan is a traditional defined benefit pension plan primarily for production employees. The second is a plan for salaried workers that provides defined benefits pursuant to a cash balance feature whereby a participant accumulates a benefit comprised of a percentage of current salary that varies with years of service, interest credits, and transition credits. The international plans generally provide pension benefits based on years of service and compensation level.

          Net periodic pension costs for the Company's pension plans include the following components (thousands of dollars):

	Three Months Ended January 31,						Six Months Ended January 31,
	2013			2012			2013			2012
Net periodic cost:
Service cost	$	4,880		$	3,862		$	9,741		$	7,760
Interest cost		4,263			4,848			8,511			9,741
Expected return on assets		(7,055	)		(7,005	)		(14,092	)		(14,058	)
Prior service cost and transition amortization		161			181			320			366
Actuarial loss amortization		2,577			1,438			5,149			2,881
Net periodic benefit cost	$	4,826		$	3,324		$	9,629		$	6,690

          The Company's general funding policy for its pension plans is to make at least the minimum contributions as required by applicable regulations. Additionally, the Company may elect to make additional contributions up to the maximum tax deductible contribution. For the six months ended January 31, 2013, the Company made contributions of $4.7 million to its non-U.S. pension plans and $0.3 million to its U.S. pension plans. The minimum funding requirement for the Company's U.S. plans for Fiscal 2013 is $13.5 million. Per the Pension Protection Act of 2006, this obligation can be met with existing credit balances that resulted from payments above the minimum obligation in prior years. The Company is still considering whether an additional cash contribution will be made or if it will utilize existing credit balances to meet the minimum obligation. The Company currently estimates that it will contribute an additional $2.4 million to its non-U.S. pension plans during the remainder of Fiscal 2013.