Note 4 - Inventories

6 Months Ended

Sep. 28, 2019

4.	Inventories

First-In, First-Out (“FIFO”) based inventory costs exceeded LIFO based inventory costs by

$165,221,000

as of the end of the

second

quarter of fiscal

2020

as compared to

$134,953,000

as of the end of the

second

quarter of fiscal

2019.

The change in the LIFO Reserve for the

three

months ended

September 28, 2019

was an increase of

$704,000

as compared to a decrease of

$9,550,000

for the

three

months ended

September 29, 2018.

The change in the LIFO Reserve from continuing operations for the

six

months ended

September 28, 2019

was an increase of

$3,880,000

as compared to a decrease of

$10,054,000

for the

six

months ended

September 29, 2018.

This current year-to-date reflects the projected impact of an overall cost increase expected in fiscal

2020

versus fiscal

2019.

The following table shows inventory by category and the related LIFO balance (in thousands):

	September 28, 2019		September 29, 2018		March 31, 2019


Finished products	$	547,116	$	640,258	$	454,920
In process		27,190		46,274		42,045
Raw materials and supplies		166,098		132,318		166,060
		740,404		818,850		663,025
Less excess of FIFO cost over LIFO cost		165,221		134,953		161,341
Total inventories	$	575,183	$	683,897	$	501,684