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Derivative Financial Instruments and Related Hedging Programs
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]  
Derivative Financial Instruments and Related Hedging Programs
Derivative Financial Instruments and Related Hedging Programs
Overview. In conducting our business, we enter into derivative transactions, including forward contracts and options, to limit our economic (i.e. cash) exposure resulting from (i) metal price risk related to our sale of fabricated aluminum products and the purchase of metal used as raw material for our fabrication operations; (ii) energy price risk relating to fluctuating prices of natural gas and electricity used in our production processes; and (iii) foreign currency requirements with respect to our foreign subsidiaries and cash commitments for equipment purchases denominated in foreign currency. Additionally, in connection with the issuance of the Convertible Notes, we purchased cash-settled Option Assets relating to our common stock to limit our exposure to the cash conversion feature of the Convertible Notes (see Note 3).
Our derivative activities are overseen by a hedging committee ("Hedging Committee"), which is composed of our chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief accounting officer, vice president of metal risk and other officers and employees selected by the chief executive officer. The Hedging Committee meets regularly to review derivative positions and strategy and reports to our Board of Directors on the scope of its activities.
Hedges of Operational Risks. Our pricing of fabricated aluminum products is generally intended to lock in a conversion margin (representing the value added from the fabrication process(es)) and to pass through metal price fluctuations to our customers. In certain instances, we enter into firm-price arrangements with our customers for stipulated volumes to be delivered in the future. Additionally, for some of our higher value added products sold on a spot basis, the pass through of metal price movements can sometimes lag by as much as several months, with a favorable impact to us when metal prices decline and an adverse impact to us when metal prices increase. Because we generally purchase primary and secondary aluminum on a floating price basis, the volume that we have committed to sell to our customers under a firm-price arrangement and the lag in passing through metal price movements to customers on some of our higher value added products sold on a spot basis create metal price risk for us. We use third-party hedging instruments to limit exposure to metal price risk related to firm-price customer sales contracts and the metal pass through lag on some of our products. See Note 9 for additional information regarding our material derivative positions relating to hedges of operational risk, and their respective fair values.
A majority of our derivative contracts relating to hedges of operational risks contain liquidity based thresholds that could require us to provide additional collateral in the event our liquidity were to fall below specified levels. To minimize the exposure to additional collateral requirements related to our liability hedge positions, we allocate hedging transactions among our counterparties, use options as part of our hedging activities, or both. The aggregate fair value of our derivative instruments that were in a net liability position was $13.7 million and $11.4 million at March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively.
We regularly review the creditworthiness of our derivative counterparties and do not expect to incur significant loss from the failure of any counterparties to perform under any agreements.
During the quarters ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, total fabricated products shipments that contained firm-price terms were (in millions of pounds) 41.1 and 34.4, respectively. At March 31, 2015, the Fabricated Products segment held contracts for the delivery of fabricated aluminum products that had the effect of creating price risk on anticipated purchases of aluminum for the remainder of 2015 and 2016, totaling approximately (in millions of pounds) 96.3 and 1.9, respectively.
Hedges Relating to the Convertible Notes. As described in Note 3, we issued $175.0 million principal amount of Convertible Notes due on April 1, 2015, which could only be settled in cash. The conversion feature of the Convertible Notes was required to be bifurcated from the Convertible Notes and treated as a separate derivative instrument. In order to offset the cash flow risk associated with the Bifurcated Conversion Feature, we purchased Option Assets that settled on April 1, 2015. The Option Assets were accounted for as derivative instruments. The cash we received on April 1, 2015 from the settlement of the Option Assets equaled and offset the cash that we paid to the holders of any converted Convertible Notes in excess of the principal amount thereof and interest payable thereon on April 1, 2015. See Note 9 for additional information regarding the fair values of the Bifurcated Conversion Feature and the Option Assets.
Realized and Unrealized Gains and Losses. Realized and unrealized (losses) gains associated with all derivative contracts consisted of the following, for each period presented (in millions of dollars):
 
Quarter Ended
 
March 31,
 
2015
 
2014
Realized (losses) gains1:
 
 
 
Aluminum
$
(2.7
)
 
$
0.8

Natural Gas
(1.3
)
 
0.7

Electricity
(0.7
)
 
0.5

Total realized (losses) gains
$
(4.7
)
 
$
2.0

Unrealized (losses) gains2:
 
 
 
Hedges of operational risk:
 
 
 
Aluminum
$
(4.2
)
 
$
1.7

Natural Gas
(0.7
)
 
0.8

Electricity
0.4

 
(0.5
)
Total hedges of operational risk
(4.5
)
 
2.0

Option Assets relating to the Convertible Notes3
10.2

 
4.4

Bifurcated Conversion Feature of the Convertible Notes3
(10.2
)
 
(3.5
)
Total unrealized (losses) gains
$
(4.5
)
 
$
2.9


______________________
1 
Realized (losses) gains on hedges of operational risk are recorded within Cost of products sold, excluding depreciation, amortization and other items in the Statements of Consolidated Income.
2 
Unrealized (losses) gains on hedges of operational risk are recorded within Unrealized losses (gains) on derivative instruments in the Statements of Consolidated Income.
3 
Unrealized (losses) gains on financial derivatives are recorded within Other income, net in the Statements of Consolidated Income.
The following table summarizes our material derivative positions at March 31, 2015:
Aluminum
Maturity Period (month/year)
 
Notional Amount of contracts (mmlbs)
Fixed price purchase contracts
4/15 through 12/16
 
82.5

Fixed price sales contracts
5/15
 
0.2

Midwest premium swap contracts1
4/15 through 12/16
 
82.1

Natural Gas2
Maturity Period (month/year)
 
Notional Amount of contracts (mmbtu)
Fixed price purchase contracts
4/15 through 12/17
 
6,700,000

Electricity3
Maturity Period (month/year)
 
Notional Amount of contracts (Mwh)
Fixed price purchase contracts
4/15 through 12/15
 
132,020

Hedges Relating to the Convertible Notes4
Contract Period (month/year)
 
Notional Amount of contracts (Common Shares)
Bifurcated Conversion Feature
3/10 through 4/15
 
3,668,449

Option Assets
3/10 through 4/15
 
3,668,449

______________________
1 
Regional premiums represent the premium over the London Metal Exchange price for primary aluminum which is incurred on our purchases of primary aluminum.
2 
As of March 31, 2015, we had Henry Hub NYMEX-based hedge positions in place to cover exposure to fluctuations in prices for approximately 79%, 77% and 29% of the expected natural gas purchases for the remainder of 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.
3 
As of March 31, 2015, we had Mid-C International Commodity Exchange-based hedge positions in place to cover exposure to fluctuations in prices for approximately 55%, 54% and 27% of the expected electricity purchases for the remainder of 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.
4 
The Bifurcated Conversion Feature represents the cash conversion feature of the Convertible Notes. The Option Assets expire on the maturity or earlier conversion of the Convertible Notes and have an exercise price equal to the conversion price of the Convertible Notes. Although the fair value of the Option Assets is derived from a notional number of shares of our common stock, the Option Assets may only be settled in cash (see Note 3).
We enter into derivative contracts with counterparties, some of which are subject to enforceable master netting arrangements and some of which are not. We reflect the fair value of our derivative contracts on a gross basis on the Consolidated Balance Sheets (see Note 2).
The following tables present offsetting information regarding our derivatives by type of counterparty as of March 31, 2015 (in millions of dollars):
Derivative Assets and Collateral Held by Counterparty
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gross Amounts Not Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
 
 
Gross Amounts of Recognized Assets
 
Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
Net Amounts of Assets Presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
Financial Instruments
 
Cash Collateral Received
 
Net Amount
Counterparty
(with netting agreements)
$
0.1

 
$
—

 
$
0.1

 
$
0.1

 
$
—

 
$
—

Counterparty
(without netting agreements)1
94.9

 
—

 
94.9

 
—

 
—

 
94.9

Counterparty
(with partial netting agreements)
0.1

 
—

 
0.1

 
0.1

 
—

 
—

Total
$
95.1

 
$
—

 
$
95.1

 
$
0.2

 
$
—

 
$
94.9

Derivative Liabilities and Collateral Held by Counterparty
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gross Amounts Not Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
 
 
Gross Amounts of Recognized Liabilities
 
Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
Net Amounts of Liabilities Presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
Financial Instruments
 
Cash Collateral Pledged
 
Net Amount
Counterparty
(with netting agreements)
$
(8.4
)
 
$
—

 
$
(8.4
)
 
$
(0.1
)
 
$
—

 
$
(8.3
)
Counterparty
(without netting agreements)1
(96.9
)
 
—

 
(96.9
)
 
—

 
—

 
(96.9
)
Counterparty
(with partial netting agreements)
(5.4
)
 
—

 
(5.4
)
 
(0.1
)
 
—

 
(5.3
)
Total
$
(110.7
)
 
$
—

 
$
(110.7
)
 
$
(0.2
)
 
$
—

 
$
(110.5
)
_________________
1 
Such amounts include the fair value of the Bifurcated Conversion Feature and Option Assets at March 31, 2015 (see Note 9).
The following tables present offsetting information regarding our derivatives by type of counterparty as of December 31, 2014 (in millions of dollars):
Derivative Assets and Collateral Held by Counterparty
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gross Amounts Not Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
 
 
Gross Amounts of Recognized Assets
 
Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
Net Amounts of Assets Presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
Financial Instruments
 
Cash Collateral Received
 
Net Amount
Counterparty
(with netting agreements)
$
0.9

 
$
—

 
$
0.9

 
$
0.8

 
$
—

 
$
0.1

Counterparty
(without netting agreements)1
84.8

 
—

 
84.8

 
—

 
—

 
84.8

Total
$
85.7

 
$
—

 
$
85.7

 
$
0.8

 
$
—

 
$
84.9

Derivative Liabilities and Collateral Held by Counterparty
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gross Amounts Not Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
 
 
Gross Amounts of Recognized Liabilities
 
Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
Net Amounts of Liabilities Presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
Financial Instruments
 
Cash Collateral Pledged
 
Net Amount
Counterparty
(with netting agreements)
$
(8.0
)
 
$
—

 
$
(8.0
)
 
$
(0.8
)
 
$
—

 
$
(7.2
)
Counterparty
(without netting agreements)1
(85.0
)
 
—

 
(85.0
)
 
—

 
—

 
(85.0
)
Counterparty
(with partial netting agreements)
(3.8
)
 
—

 
(3.8
)
 
—

 
—

 
(3.8
)
Total
$
(96.8
)
 
$
—

 
$
(96.8
)
 
$
(0.8
)
 
$
—

 
$
(96.0
)
_________________
1 
Such amounts include the fair value of the Bifurcated Conversion Feature and Option Assets at December 31, 2014 (see Note 9).