Inventories

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

INVENTORIES

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost, determined by the last-in, first-out (LIFO) method, or market.

Inventories consist of the following:


In Thousands	March 31, 2020		December 31, 2019

Raw materials	$	21,428	$	25,882
Work-in-process	21,406		25,381
Finished goods	82,908		83,222
Total Inventory at FIFO cost	125,742		134,485
Adjust to LIFO cost	(35,174)		(44,801)

Inventory, net	$	90,568	$	89,684

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost, using the last-in, first out (“LIFO”) method, or market. The Company maintains two inventory pools for LIFO purposes. As permitted by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, the Company maintains its inventory costs and cost of goods sold on a first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) basis and makes a monthly adjustment to adjust total inventory and cost of goods sold from FIFO to LIFO. The Company applies the lower of cost or market (“LCM”) test by comparing the LIFO cost of its raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods inventories to estimated market values, which are based primarily upon the most recent quoted market price of copper and other material prices as of the end of each reporting period. The Company performs a lower of cost or market calculation quarterly. As of March 31, 2020, no LCM adjustment was required. However, decreases in copper and other material prices could necessitate establishing an LCM reserve in future periods. Additionally, future reductions in the quantity of inventory on hand could cause copper or other raw materials that are carried in inventory at costs different from the cost of copper and other raw materials in the period in which the reduction occurs to be included in costs of goods sold for that period at the different price.

In the first quarter of 2020, LIFO adjustments were recorded, decreasing cost of sales by $9.6 million, versus LIFO adjustments increasing cost of sales by $3.8 million in the first quarter of 2019.