Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, Plant and Equipment

NOTE 4 – PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:

Property, plant and equipment as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 was comprised of the following:

	2024			2023
Land and land improvements	$	8,788		$	9,025
Buildings and leasehold improvements		70,400			71,063
Machinery and equipment		377,938			366,044
Construction-in-process		4,544			11,514
Other		6,337			6,965
		468,007			464,611
Accumulated depreciation		(319,951	)		(305,879	)
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	148,056		$	158,732

Certain of the above property, plant and equipment are held as collateral including:

•The land and building of Union Electric Steel UK Limited (“UES-UK”), an indirect subsidiary of the Corporation, with a book value equal to approximately $2,660 (£2,122) at December 31, 2024, are held as collateral by the trustees of the UES-UK defined benefit pension plan (see Note 11).

•Machinery and equipment, with a book value equal to $24,239 at December 31, 2024, purchased with proceeds from the equipment finance facility (see Note 9) are held as collateral for the equipment financing facility.

•Certain land and land improvements and buildings and leasehold improvements are included in the sale-leaseback financing transactions and disbursement agreement (see Note 9). Title to these assets lies with the lender; however, since the transactions qualified as financing transactions, versus sales, the assets remain recorded on the Corporation’s consolidated balance sheet.

•The remaining assets, other than real property, are pledged as collateral for the Corporation’s revolving credit facility (see Note 9).

In 2023, Union Electric Steel (“UES”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Corporation, completed certain leasehold improvements at the Carnegie, Pennsylvania manufacturing facility with the $2,500 of proceeds from the disbursement agreement (see Note 9). The improvements are being amortized over the remaining lease term of 20 years.

In 2021, the Corporation began a $26,000 long-term strategic capital program to upgrade existing equipment at certain of its FCEP locations. The program was completed and the assets were placed in service during the first half of 2024. Interest capitalized for the strategic capital equipment program for 2024 and 2023 totaled $251 and $1,522, respectively.

The gross value of assets under finance leases and the related accumulated amortization approximated $2,964 and $1,498 as of December 31, 2024, respectively, and $4,223 and $1,959 as of December 31, 2023, respectively. Depreciation expense approximated $18,264 and $17,317, including depreciation of assets under finance leases of approximately $318 and $333, for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.