During the third quarter of 2018, the Company approved a plan to shut down Surfactants operations at its German plant site. As of December 31, 2018, the Company recognized restructuring costs of $1,404,000 comprised of asset and spare part write-downs. The shutdown decision was made in order to reduce the Company’s fixed cost base, facilitate a refocusing of Surfactant resources on higher margin end markets and allow for select assets to be repurposed to support future polyol growth. Decommissioning expenses associated with the shutdown are expected to be incurred throughout 2019.

During the fourth quarter of 2017, the Company approved a plan to restructure a portion of its Fieldsboro, New Jersey production facility. This decision was made to improve future asset utilization and reduce the North American cost base going forward. The Company recorded $915,000 of restructuring expenses which reflected termination benefits for the plant employees. In addition, the Company reduced the useful lives of the manufacturing assets that were impacted by the restructuring and recorded $1,290,000 of accelerated depreciation. This expense was recorded in the cost of sales line of the consolidated statements of income.

Also, in June 2017, the Company eliminated 11 positions from manufacturing operations at its Singapore plant. The Singapore plant is part of the Company’s Surfactant segment. The reduction in positions was made to better align the number of personnel with current business requirements and to reduce costs at that site. As a result of the reduction in workforce, termination expense of $132,000 was recognized in the second quarter of 2017 and there was no remaining liability for the termination pay as of December 31, 2017.

In May 2016, the Company announced plans to shut down its Longford Mills, Ontario, Canada (Longford Mills) manufacturing facility, a part of the Surfactant reportable segment, by December 31, 2016. The shutdown plan was developed as an effort to improve the Company’s asset utilization in North America and to reduce the Company’s fixed cost base. Manufacturing operation of the Longford Mills plant ceased by the end of 2016 and production of goods manufactured at the facility was moved to other Company North American production sites. In addition to the restructuring costs, the Company reduced the useful lives of the manufacturing assets in the Longford Mills plant. As a result, the Company recognized $4,471,000 of additional depreciation expense for the year ended December 31, 2016. The expense was included in the cost of sales line of the consolidated statements of income. No additional depreciation related to the change in the useful lives of the assets was recognized in 2017 and 2018.

Decommissioning of the assets continued throughout 2018 and $1,185,000 of decommissioning expense was recognized in 2018. As of December 31, 2018, an aggregate of $6,024,000 of expense has been recognized since the beginning of the restructuring, reflecting $1,594,000 of termination benefits for approximately 30 employees and $4,430,000 for other expenses principally related to site decommissioning costs. Site decommissioning costs will continue to be incurred in 2019.

Below is a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the Longford Mills restructuring liability:

(In thousands)	Termination Benefits			Other Expense			Total
Restructuring liability at January 1, 2017	$	1,548		$	437		$	1,985
Expense recognized		-			2,022			2,022
Amounts paid		(1,012	)		(2,377	)		(3,389	)
Foreign currency translation		56			17			73
Restructuring liability at December 31, 2017	$	592		$	99		$	691
Expense recognized		-			1,185			1,185
Amounts paid		(312	)		(1,194	)		(1,506	)
Foreign currency translation		(20	)		(7	)		(27	)
Restructuring liability at December 31, 2018	$	260		$	83		$	343

In the fourth quarter of 2016, the Company recorded pretax charges for asset impairments of $4,247,000, all related to the Company’s Surfactant segment (although the charges were excluded from the Surfactant segment operating results). In the United States, $2,297,000 of engineering and design costs associated with a planned nonionic surfactants plant construction project in Louisiana were written off from the Company’s construction-in-process account, as management decided to make nonionic surfactants at or near the Pasadena, Texas site the Company acquired from the Sun Products Corporation in 2015. In Brazil, the major customer for the Bahia plant exited the product line for which that plant supplied them product. As a result, the Company was required to recognize $1,950,000 of asset impairment expenses for the facility. Because the customer was under contract with the Company, a negotiated agreement was reached in 2016 whereby the customer agreed to compensate the Company in the lump-sum amount of $4,250,000 for lost future revenues. The compensation was reported in net sales for the year ended December 31, 2016.