PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

Property, plant and equipment (“PP&E”), net consisted of the following:



	September 30, 2018			December 31, 2017
	(In thousands)
Land	$	197,182		$	205,087
Buildings	1,682,584			1,681,610
Machinery and equipment	2,582,087			2,533,522
Autos and trucks	57,846			58,159
Construction-in-progress	238,806			187,094
PP&E, gross	4,758,505			4,665,472
Accumulated depreciation	(2,637,859		)	(2,570,325		)
PP&E, net	$	2,120,646		$	2,095,147

The Company recognized depreciation expense of $64.4 million and $63.8 million during the thirteen weeks ended September 30, 2018 and September 24, 2017, respectively. The Company recognized depreciation expense of $187.0 million and $181.1 million during the thirty-nine weeks ended September 30, 2018 and September 24, 2017, respectively.

During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 30, 2018, Pilgrim's spent $231.9 million on capital projects and transferred $149.5 million of completed projects from construction-in-progress to depreciable assets. Capital expenditures were primarily incurred during the thirty-nine weeks ended September 30, 2018 to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2017, the Company spent $258.4 million on capital projects and transferred $272.5 million of completed projects from construction-in-progress to depreciable assets.

During the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended September 30, 2018, the Company sold certain PP&E for $1.5 million and $2.7 million, respectively, in cash and recognized net gain on these sales of $0.7 million and $0.5 million, respectively. PP&E sold in thirty-nine weeks ended September 30, 2018 included a processing plant in Alabama, a residential building in Georgia, vacant land in Georgia and North Carolina, and miscellaneous equipment. During the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2017, the Company sold certain PP&E for cash of $1.0 million and $2.6 million, respectively, and recognized a net loss of $0.2 million and a net gain of $0.5 million, respectively. PP&E sold in the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2017 included a processing plant in Texas, a feed mill in Arkansas, poultry farms in Alabama and Texas, vacant land in Texas, and miscellaneous equipment.

Management has committed to the sale of a processing complex in Minnesota and miscellaneous equipment that no longer fit into the operating plans of the Company. The Company is actively marketing these assets for immediate sale and believes a sale of each asset can be consummated within the next 12 months. At September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the Company reported properties and related assets totaling $2.6 million and $0.7 million, respectively, in the line item Assets held for sale on its Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The fair values of the Minnesota processing complex and the miscellaneous equipment that were classified as assets held for sale as of September 30, 2018 were both based on quoted market prices.

The Company tested the recoverability of its Minnesota processing complex held for sale as of April 1, 2018, July 1, 2018, and September 30, 2018. The Company determined that the aggregate carrying amount at September 30, 2018 of this asset group was not recoverable over the remaining life of the primary asset in the group and recognized impairment cost of $0.8 million within the U.S. segment, which it reported in the line item Administrative restructuring charges on its Condensed Consolidated and Combined Statements of Income.

The Company has closed or idled various facilities in the U.S. and in the U.K. Neither the Board of Directors nor JBS has determined if it would be in the best interest of the Company to divest any of these idled assets. Management is therefore not certain that it can or will divest any of these assets within one year, is not actively marketing these assets and, accordingly, has not classified them as assets held for sale. The Company continues to depreciate these assets. At September 30, 2018, the carrying amounts of these idled assets totaled $47.4 million based on depreciable value of $155.6 million and accumulated depreciation of $108.2 million. During the thirty-nine weeks ended September 30, 2018, the Company recognized an impairment loss of $0.1 million related to leasehold improvements at an idled administrative office.

At September 30, 2018, the Company assessed if events or changes in circumstances indicated that the aggregate carrying amount of its property, plant and equipment held for use might not be recoverable. There were no indicators present that required the Company to test the recoverability of the aggregate carrying amount of its property, plant and equipment held for use at that date.