Note 4 - Inventories

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

4.	Inventories:

Inventories consisted of the following:

	Inventory as of
(in thousands)	March 31, 2020		December 31, 2019
Unprocessed	$	217,547	$	220,787
Processed and finished		50,007		52,744
Totals	$	267,554	$	273,531

The Company values certain of its tubular and pipe products inventory at the last-in,

first

-out (LIFO) method. At

March 31, 2020

and

December 31, 2019,

approximately

$41.1

million, or

15.3%

of consolidated inventory, and

$39.1

million, or

14.3%

of consolidated inventory, respectively, was reported under the LIFO method of accounting. The cost of the remainder of the tubular and pipe products inventory is determined using a weighted average rolling

first

-in,

first

-out (FIFO) method.

During the

three

months ended

March 31, 2020,

the Company recorded

$0.5

million of LIFO income, as current projections anticipate declining metals prices, which would increase the LIFO debit by

December 31, 2020.

The Company did

not

record any LIFO income or expense during the

three

months ended

March 31, 2019.

If the FIFO method had been in use, inventories would have been

$1.1

million and

$0.6

million lower than reported at

March 31, 2020

and

December 31, 2019,

respectively.