Note 4 - Inventories

6 Months Ended

Oct. 01, 2022

Notes to Financial Statements

Inventory Disclosure [Text Block]

4. Inventories

The Company uses the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method of valuing inventory. An actual valuation of inventory under the LIFO method is made at the end of each fiscal year based on the inventory levels and costs at that time. Accordingly, interim LIFO calculations are based on management’s estimates of expected year-end inventory levels, production pack yields, sales and the expected rate of inflation or deflation for the year. The interim LIFO calculations are subject to adjustment in the final year-end LIFO inventory valuation.

As of October 1, 2022, October 2, 2021, and March 31, 2022, first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) based inventory costs exceeded LIFO based inventory costs, resulting in a LIFO reserve of $212.9 million, $140.3 million, and $164.5 million, respectively. In order to state inventories at LIFO, the Company recorded an increase to cost of products sold of $29.2 million and $8.8 million for the three months ended October 1, 2022 and October 2, 2021, respectively, and an increase to cost of products sold of $48.4 million and $11.6 million for the six months ended October 1, 2022 and October 1, 2021, respectively.

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

			As of:
	October 1,		October 2,		March 31,
	2022		2021		2022
Finished products	$	805,500	$	629,503		385,681
In process		47,050		17,810		23,652
Raw materials and supplies		181,680		101,177		165,491
		1,034,230		748,490		574,824
Less excess of FIFO cost over LIFO cost		212,928		140,311		164,493
Inventories	$	821,302	$	608,179	$	410,331