Retirement plans

12 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2012

Retirement Plans [Abstract]

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 9 - Retirement plans

Pension plan

The Winchester filtration hourly rated employees are covered by a defined benefit plan. The benefits are based on fixed amounts multiplied by years of service of retired participants. The Company engages outside actuaries to calculate its obligations and costs. The funding policy is to contribute such amounts as are necessary to provide for benefits attributed to service to date and those expected to be earned in the future. The amounts contributed to the plan are sufficient to meet the minimum funding requirements set forth in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. The Company may contribute additional amounts at its discretion.

Asset allocation

Plan assets	Market Value
Vanguard balanced index fund	$5,007
Vanguard inflation protected fund	268
Fifth Third Banksafe Trust	117
Vanguard REIT index fund	110
Total at January 31, 2012	$5,502

The plans hold no securities of MFRI, Inc. 100% of the assets are held for benefits under the plan. The fair value of the major categories of the pension plans' investments are presented below. The FASB has established a fair value hierarchy that distinguishes between (1) market participant assumptions developed based on market data obtained from independent sources (observable inputs) and (2) an entity's own assumptions about market participant assumptions developed based on the best information available in the circumstances (unobservable inputs). The fair value hierarchy consists of three broad levels, which gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:

Level 1 - Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities.

Level 2 - Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, including quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active; inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability (e.g., interest rates); and inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means.

Level 3 - Inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable.

Level 1 market value of plan assets	2011	2010
Equity securities	$3,018	$2,830
U.S. bond market	1,968	1,837
High-quality inflation-indexed bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury and government agencies as well as domestic corporations	268	229
Real estate securities	110	97
Subtotal	5,364	4,993
Level 2 significant other observable inputs
Money market fund	138	96
Total	$5,502	$5,089

At January 31, 2012, 54.9% of plan assets were held in mutual funds, 40.6% were held in bond funds and the remaining 2.5% was in a money market fund. The target asset allocation was 95% to 100% mutual funds. The investment policy is to invest all funds not needed to pay benefits and investment expenses for the year, with target asset allocations of 60% equities (plus or minus 10%) and 40% fixed income (plus or minus 10%), diversified across a variety of sub-asset classes and investment styles, following a flexible asset allocation approach that will allow the plan to participate in market opportunities as they become available. The expected long-term rate of return on assets is based on historical long-term rates of equity and fixed income investments and the asset mix objective of the funds.

Investment market conditions in 2011 resulted in $342 thousand actual return on plan assets as presented below, which increased the fair value of plan assets at year end. The Company did not change its 8% expected return on plan assets used in determining cost and benefit obligations, the return that the Company has assumed during every profitable and unprofitable investment year since 1991. The plan's investments are intended to earn long-term returns to fund long-term obligations, and investment portfolios with asset allocations similar to those of the plan's investment policy have attained such returns over several decades. Future contributions that may be necessary to maintain funding requirements are not expected to materially affect the Company's liquidity.

Reconciliation of benefit obligations, plan assets and funded status of plan	2011		2010
Accumulated benefit obligations
Vested benefits	$6,576		$4,823
Accumulated benefits	$7,186		$4,931
Change in benefit obligation
Benefit obligation - beginning of year	$5,570		$4,814
Service cost	126		118
Interest cost	313		280
Actuarial loss	1,380		210
Benefits paid	(203	)	(162	)
Benefit obligation - end of year	$7,186		$5,260
Change in plan assets
Fair value of plan assets - beginning of year	$5,089		$4,250
Actual return on plan assets gain	342		684
Company contributions	274		317
Benefits paid	(203	)	(162	)
Fair value of plan assets - end of year	$5,502		$5,089
Unfunded status	$(1,684)		$(171)
Balance sheet classification
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	$305		$315
Other assets	1,261		1,209
Other long-term liabilities	(3,250	)	(1,695	)
Net amount recognized	$(1,684)		$(171)
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income
Unrecognized actuarial (gain)/loss	$2,623		$931
Unamortized prior service cost	322		449
Net amount recognized	$2,945		$1,380

The amount of unamortized prior service cost and net loss to be amortized in the year ended January 31, 2013 is $127 thousand.

Weighted-average assumptions used to determine net cost and benefit obligations	2011		2010
End of year benefit obligation	4.250	%	5.780	%
Service cost discount rate	5.780	%	5.980	%
Expected return on plan assets	8.000	%	8.000	%
Rate of compensation increase	N/A		N/A

The discount rate was based on a Citigroup pension discount curve of high quality fixed income investments with cash flows matching the plans' expected benefit payments. The Company determines the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets by performing a detailed analysis of historical and expected returns based on the strategic asset allocation approved by the Board of Directors and the underlying return fundamentals of each asset class. The Company's historical experience with the pension fund asset performance is also considered.

Components of net periodic benefit cost	2011	2010
Service cost	$126	$118
Interest cost	313	280
Expected return on plan assets	(405)	(342)
Amortization of prior service cost	127	132
Recognized actuarial loss	62	65
Net periodic benefit cost	$223	$253

Amounts recognized in other comprehensive income	2011	2010
Actuarial loss on obligation	$(1,380)	$(210)
Amendments	—	—
Actual return on plan assets gain	(1)	406
Reclassify prior service cost	127	132
Total in other comprehensive income	$(1,254)	$328
Cash flows
Expected employer contributions for 2012 [fiscal year ending 1/31/2013]		400
Expected employee contributions for 2012 [fiscal year ending 1/31/2013]		—
Estimated future benefit payments reflecting expected future service for the fiscal year(s) ending January 31,:
2013		305
2014		308
2015		325
2016		343
2017		347
2018 - 2022		1,951

401(k) plan

The domestic employees of the Company participate in the MFRI, Inc. Employee Savings and Protection Plan, which is applicable to all employees except employees covered by collective bargaining agreement benefits. The plan allows employee pretax payroll contributions of up to 16% of total compensation. The Company matches 50% of each participant's contribution, up to a maximum of 3% of each participant's salary.

Contributions to the 401(k) plan were $558 thousand and $436 thousand for the years ended January 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Deferred compensation plans

The Company has deferred compensation agreements with key employees. Vesting is based on years of service. Life insurance contracts have been purchased which may be used to fund the Company's obligation under these agreements.

Multi-employer plans

The Company contributes to a multi-employer plan for certain collective bargaining U.S. employees and for foreign employees according to their countries requirements. The risks of participating in this multi-employer plan are different from a single employer plan in the following aspects:

• Assets contributed to the multi-employer by one employer may be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers.

• If a participating employer ceases contributing to the plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan may be inherited by the remaining participating employers

• If the Company chooses to stop participating in the multi-employer plan, the Company may be required to pay those plans an amount based on the underfunded status of the plan, referred to as a withdrawal liability.

The Company has assessed and determined that the multi-employer plans to which it contributes is not significant to the Company's consolidated financial statements. The Company does not expect to incur a withdrawal liability or expect to significantly increase its contribution over the remainder of the contract period. The Company made contributions to the bargaining unit supported multi-employer pension plan resulting in expense of approximately $2.5 million and $2.3 million for the years ended January 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.