Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Nature of our business - NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE: NL) is primarily a holding company. We operate in the component products industry through our majority-owned subsidiary, CompX International Inc. (NYSE MKT: CIX). We operate in the chemicals industry through our noncontrolling interest in Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: KRO).

Organization

Organization - At December 31, 2017, Valhi, Inc. (NYSE: VHI) held approximately 83% of our outstanding common stock and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Contran Corporation held approximately 93% of Valhi’s outstanding common stock. All of Contran’s outstanding voting stock is held by a family trust established for the benefit of Lisa K. Simmons and Serena Simmons Connelly and their children for which Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly are co-trustees, or is held directly by Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly or entities related to them. Consequently, Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly may be deemed to control Contran, Valhi and us.

Unless otherwise indicated, references in this report to “we,” “us” or “our” refer to NL Industries, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliate, Kronos, taken as a whole.

Management's estimates

Management’s estimates - In preparing our financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP), we are required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of our assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at each balance sheet date and the reported amounts of our revenues and expenses during each reporting period. Actual results may differ significantly from previously-estimated amounts under different assumptions or conditions.

Principles of consolidation

Principles of consolidation - Our consolidated financial statements include the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of NL and our wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries, including CompX. We account for the 13% of CompX stock we do not own as a noncontrolling interest. We eliminate all material intercompany accounts and balances. Changes in ownership of our wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries are accounted for as equity transactions with no gain or loss recognized on the transaction unless there is a change in control.

Currency translation

Currency translation - The financial statements of Kronos’ non-U.S. subsidiaries are translated to U.S. dollars. The functional currency of Kronos’ non-U.S. subsidiaries is generally the local currency of their country. Accordingly, Kronos translates the assets and liabilities at year-end rates of exchange, while they translate their revenues and expenses at average exchange rates prevailing during the year. We accumulate the resulting translation adjustments in stockholders’ equity as part of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of related deferred income taxes. Kronos recognizes currency transaction gains and losses in income which is reflected as part of our equity in earnings (losses) of Kronos.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents - We classify bank time deposits and government and commercial notes and bills with original maturities of three months or less as cash equivalents.

Restricted cash equivalents

Restricted cash equivalents - We classify cash equivalents that have been segregated or are otherwise limited in use as restricted. Such restrictions include cash pledged as collateral with respect to performance obligations or letters of credit required by regulatory agencies for certain environmental remediation sites, cash pledged as collateral with respect to certain workers compensation liabilities, and cash held in trust by our insurance brokerage subsidiary pending transfer to the applicable insurance or reinsurance carrier. To the extent the restricted amount relates to a recognized liability, we classify such restricted amount as either a current or noncurrent asset to correspond with the classification of the liability. To the extent the restricted amount does not relate to a recognized liability, we classify restricted cash as a current asset. Restricted cash equivalents classified as a current asset are presented separately on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, and restricted cash equivalents classified as a noncurrent asset are presented as a component of other assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, as disclosed in Note 8.

Marketable securities and securities transactions

Marketable securities and securities transactions - We carry marketable securities at fair value. Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, establishes a consistent framework for measuring fair value and, with certain exceptions, this framework is generally applied to all financial statement items required to be measured at fair value. The standard requires fair value measurements to be classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:

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Level 1 - Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;

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Level 2 - Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs which are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the assets or liability; and

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Level 3 - Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable.

We classify all of our marketable securities as available-for-sale and unrealized gains or losses on these securities are recognized through other comprehensive income, net of related deferred income taxes. We base realized gains and losses upon the specific identification of securities sold. See Note 5.

Accounts receivable

Accounts receivable - We provide an allowance for doubtful accounts for known and estimated potential losses arising from sales to customers based on a periodic review of these accounts.

Inventories and cost of sales

Inventories and cost of sales - We state inventories at the lower of cost or net realizable value. We generally base inventory costs for all inventory categories on an average cost that approximates the first-in, first-out method. Inventories include the costs for raw materials, the cost to manufacture the raw materials into finished goods and overhead. Depending on the inventory’s stage of completion, our manufacturing costs can include the costs of packing and finishing, utilities, maintenance and depreciation, shipping and handling, and salaries and benefits associated with our manufacturing process. We allocate fixed manufacturing overhead costs based on normal production capacity. Unallocated overhead costs resulting from periods with abnormally low production levels are charged to expense as incurred. As inventory is sold to third parties, we recognize the cost of sales in the same period that the sale occurs. We periodically review our inventory for estimated obsolescence or instances when inventory is no longer marketable for its intended use and we record any write-down equal to the difference between the cost of inventory and its estimated net realizable value based on assumptions about alternative uses, market conditions and other factors.

Investment in Kronos Worldwide, Inc.

Investment in Kronos Worldwide, Inc. - We account for our 30% non-controlling interest in Kronos by the equity method. Distributions received from Kronos are classified for statement of cash flow purposes using the “nature of distribution” approach under ASC Topic 230. See Note 6.

Goodwill

Goodwill - Goodwill represents the excess of cost over fair value of individual net assets acquired in business combinations. Goodwill is not subject to periodic amortization. We evaluate goodwill for impairment, annually, or when circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. See Note 7.

Property and equipment; depreciation expense

Property and equipment; depreciation expense - We state property and equipment, including purchased computer software for internal use, at cost. We compute depreciation of property and equipment for financial reporting purposes principally by the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of 15 to 40 years for buildings and 3 to 20 years for equipment and software. We use accelerated depreciation methods for income tax purposes, as permitted. Depreciation expense was $3.6 million in 2015, $3.8 million in 2016, and $3.7 million in 2017. Upon sale or retirement of an asset, the related cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any gain or loss is recognized in income currently. Expenditures for maintenance, repairs and minor renewals are expensed; expenditures for major improvements are capitalized.

We perform impairment tests when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. We consider all relevant factors. We perform impairment tests by comparing the estimated future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset to the asset’s net carrying value to determine whether impairment exists.

Employee benefit plans

Employee benefit plans - Accounting and funding policies for our retirement and post-retirement benefits other than pensions (OPEB) plans are described in Note 11.

Income taxes

Income taxes - We, Valhi and our qualifying subsidiaries are members of Contran’s consolidated U.S. federal income tax group (the Contran Tax Group) and we and certain of our qualifying subsidiaries also file consolidated unitary state income tax returns with Contran in qualifying U.S. jurisdictions. As a member of the Contran Tax Group, we are jointly and severally liable for the federal income tax liability of Contran and the other companies included in the Contran Tax Group for all periods in which we are included in the Contran Tax Group. See Note 17. As a member of the Contran Tax Group, we are party to a tax sharing agreement with Valhi and Contran which provides that we compute our provision for income taxes on a separate-company basis using the tax elections made by Contran. Pursuant to our tax sharing agreement, we make payments to or receive payments from Valhi in amounts that we would have paid to or received from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or the applicable state tax authority had we not been a member of the Contran Tax Group. We made net payments to Valhi of $.6 million in 2015, less than $.1 million in 2016 and $3.1 million in 2017.

We recognize deferred income tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the income tax and financial reporting carrying amounts of our assets and liabilities, including investments in our subsidiaries and affiliates who are not members of the Contran Tax Group and undistributed earnings of non-U.S. subsidiaries which are not permanently reinvested. In addition, we recognize deferred income taxes with respect to the excess of the financial reporting carrying amount over the income tax basis of our direct investment in Kronos common stock because the exemption under GAAP to avoid recognition of such deferred income taxes is not available to us. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities for each tax-paying jurisdiction in which we operate are netted and presented as either a noncurrent deferred income tax asset or liability as applicable. We periodically evaluate our deferred tax assets in the various taxing jurisdictions in which we operate and adjust any related valuation allowance based on the estimate of the amount of such deferred tax assets which we believe do not meet the more-likely-than-not recognition criteria.

We account for the tax effects of a change in tax law as a component of the income tax provision related to continuing operations in the period of enactment, including the tax effects of any deferred income taxes originally established through a financial statement component other than continuing operations (i.e. other comprehensive income). Changes in applicable income tax rates over time as a result of changes in tax law, or times in which a deferred income tax asset valuation allowance is initially recognized in one year and subsequently reversed in a later year, can give rise to “stranded” tax effects in accumulated other comprehensive income in which the net accumulated income tax (benefit) remaining in accumulated other comprehensive income does not correspond to the then-applicable income tax rate applied to the pre-tax amount which resides in accumulated other comprehensive income. As permitted by GAAP, our accounting policy is to remove any such stranded tax effect remaining in accumulated other comprehensive income, by recognizing an offset to our provision for income taxes related to continuing operations, only at the time when there is no remaining pre-tax amount in accumulated other comprehensive income. For accumulated other comprehensive income related to marketable securities, this would occur whenever we would have no available-for-sale marketable securities for which unrealized gains and losses are recognized through other comprehensive income. For accumulated other comprehensive income related to foreign currency translation, this would occur only upon the sale or complete liquidation of one of our foreign subsidiaries (including foreign subsidiaries of Kronos). For defined pension benefit plans and OPEB plans, this would occur whenever we or one of our subsidiaries which previously sponsored a defined benefit pension or OPEB plan had terminated such a plan and had no future obligation or plan asset associated with such a plan.

We record a reserve for uncertain tax positions for tax positions where we believe it is more-likely-than-not our position will not prevail with the applicable tax authorities. The amount of the benefit associated with our uncertain tax positions that we recognize is limited to the largest amount for which we believe the likelihood of realization is greater than 50%. We accrue penalties and interest on the difference between tax positions taken on our tax returns and the amount of benefit recognized for financial reporting purposes. We classify our reserves for uncertain tax positions in a separate current or noncurrent liability, depending on the nature of the tax position. See Note 14.

Environmental remediation costs

Environmental remediation costs - We record liabilities related to environmental remediation obligations when estimated future expenditures are probable and reasonably estimable. We adjust these accruals as further information becomes available to us or as circumstances change. We generally do not discount estimated future expenditures to present value. We recognize any recoveries of remediation costs from other parties when we deem their receipt probable. We expense any environmental remediation related legal costs as incurred. At December 31, 2016 and 2017, we had not recognized any receivables for recoveries. See Note 17.

Net sales

Net sales - We record sales when products are shipped and title and other risks and rewards of ownership have passed to the customer. Amounts charged to customers for shipping and handling costs are not material. We state sales net of price, early payment and distributor discounts and volume rebates. We report taxes assessed by a governmental authority that we collect from our customers that is both imposed on and concurrent with our revenue producing activities (such as sales and use taxes) on a net basis (meaning we do not recognize these taxes in either our revenues or in our costs and expenses).

Selling, general and administrative expenses; advertising costs; research and development costs

Selling, general and administrative expenses; advertising costs; research and development costs - Selling, general and administrative expenses include costs related to marketing, sales, distribution, research and development, and administrative functions such as accounting, treasury and finance, as well as costs for salaries and benefits, travel and entertainment, promotional materials and professional fees. We expense advertising costs and research and development costs as incurred. Advertising costs were not significant in any year presented.

Corporate expenses

Corporate expenses - Corporate expenses include environmental, legal and other costs attributable to formerly-owned business units.

Earnings per share

Earnings per share – Basic and diluted earnings per share of common stock is based upon the weighted average number of our common shares actually outstanding during each period.