Fair Value of Financial Instruments

9 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

The current authoritative guidance on fair value clarifies the definition of fair value, prescribes a framework for measuring fair value, establishes a fair value hierarchy based on the inputs used to measure fair value, and expands disclosures about the use of fair value measurements. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date.

The valuation techniques required by the current authoritative literature are based upon observable and unobservable inputs. Observable inputs reflect market data obtained from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect internal market assumptions. These two types of inputs create the following fair value hierarchy:

Level 1—Quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets.

Level 2—Quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations whose inputs are observable or whose significant value drivers are observable.

Level 3—Significant inputs to the valuation model are unobservable.

The following section describes the valuation methodologies used by the Company to measure its financial instruments at fair value.

Investments in marketable securities—The Company's investments in marketable securities represent investments held in a common collective trust ("CCT") that primarily invests in fixed income securities which are used to pay benefits under a nonqualified supplemental executive retirement plan for certain executives and highly compensated employees. Investments in a collective investment vehicle are valued by multiplying the investee company's net asset value per share with the number of units or shares owned at the valuation date as determined by the investee company. Net asset value per share is determined by the investee company's custodian or fund administrator by deducting from the value of the assets of the investee company all its liabilities and the resulting number is divided by the outstanding number of shares or units. Investments held by the CCT, including collateral invested for securities on loan, are valued on the basis of valuations furnished by a pricing service approved by the CCT's investment manager, which determines valuations using methods based on market transactions for comparable securities and various relationships between securities which are generally recognized by institutional traders, or at fair value as determined in good faith by the CCT's investment manager. The fair value of these securities is included within other current assets and deferred charges and other noncurrent assets on the consolidated balance sheet. The fair value of these securities, not subject to leveling, is measured on a recurring basis and was $12,065 and $10,327 at December 31, 2015 and March 31, 2015, respectively.

Derivative financial instruments and hedging activities—In order to manage its exposure to commodity pricing and foreign currency risk, the Company periodically utilizes commodity and foreign currency derivatives, which are considered Level 2 instruments. As discussed further in Note 4, the Company has outstanding commodity forward contracts that were entered into to hedge forecasted purchases of copper and zinc, as well as outstanding foreign currency forward contracts that were entered into to hedge forecasted transactions denominated in a foreign currency. Commodity derivatives are valued based on prices of futures exchanges and recently reported transactions in the marketplace. During fiscal 2014, the Company entered into five interest rate swaps. These swaps are valued based on future LIBOR, and the established fixed rate is based primarily on quotes from banks. Foreign currency derivatives are valued based on observable market transactions of spot currency rates and forward currency prices.

Long-term Debt—The fair value of the variable-rate long-term debt is calculated based on current market rates for debt of the same risk and maturities. The fair value of the fixed-rate debt is based on market quotes for each issuance. The Company considers these to be Level 2 instruments.

Fair value of financial assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis were as follows:



	December 31, 2015
	Fair Value Measurements Using Inputs Considered as
	Level 1	Level 2		Level 3
Assets:
Derivatives	—	$	3,979	—
Liabilities:
Derivatives	—	8,353		—



	March 31, 2015
	Fair Value Measurements Using Inputs Considered as
	Level 1	Level 2		Level 3
Assets:
Derivatives	—	$	7,823	—
Liabilities:
Derivatives	—	11,137		—

Carrying amount and fair value of financial assets and liabilities that are not measured at fair value on a recurring basis were as follows:



	December 31, 2015				March 31, 2015
	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
Fixed rate debt	$	700,000	$	712,500	$	300,000	$	306,000
Variable rate debt	790,000		787,697		1,288,501		1,283,539

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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