In the majority of instances the Company deems a contract with a customer to exist when a purchase order is received from a customer for a specified quantity of product or products and the Company acknowledges receipt of such purchase order. In some instances the Company has entered into manufacturing supply agreements with customers but these agreements typically do not bind a customer to any purchase volume requirements and thus an obligation is not created until the customer submits a purchase order to the Company. The Company’s contracts typically have a single performance obligation that is satisfied at the time a product is shipped and control passes to the customer. For a small portion of the business, performance obligations are deemed satisfied when product is delivered to a customer location.

As of September 30, 2019, the Company did not have any contract assets or contract liabilities. A contract liability would typically arise when an advance or deposit is received from a customer before the Company recognizes revenue. In practice, this is extremely rare as it would require a customer to make a payment prior to a performance obligation being satisfied. If such a situation did arise the Company would maintain a deferred revenue liability until the time a performance obligation has been satisfied. The Company did not recognize any revenue in the current period from any pre-existing contract liability balance.

The tables below provide a geographic disaggregation of net sales for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018. The Company’s business segmentation by geographic region most effectively captures the nature and economic characteristics of the Company’s revenue streams.

	For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2019
(In thousands)
	Surfactants		Polymers		Specialty Products		Total
Geographic Market
North America	$	178,799	$	84,397	$	14,035	$	277,231
Europe		57,190		39,852		2,739		99,781
Latin America		51,940		792		—		52,732
Asia		11,790		10,048		—		21,838
Total	$	299,719	$	135,089	$	16,774	$	451,582

	For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2018
(In thousands)
	Surfactants		Polymers		Specialty Products		Total
Geographic Market
North America	$	205,032	$	87,720	$	16,877	$	309,629
Europe		68,120		45,780		2,590		116,490
Latin America		58,560		978		—		59,538
Asia		15,172		7,168		—		22,340
Total	$	346,884	$	141,646	$	19,467	$	507,997

	For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019
(In thousands)
	Surfactants		Polymers		Specialty Products		Total
Geographic Market
North America	$	584,816	$	242,154	$	46,127	$	873,097
Europe		183,028		126,042		8,975		318,045
Latin America		156,709		2,439		—		159,148
Asia		38,196		25,269		—		63,465
Total	$	962,749	$	395,904	$	55,102	$	1,413,755

	For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018
(In thousands)
	Surfactants		Polymers		Specialty Products		Total
Geographic Market
North America	$	643,466	$	248,160	$	50,365	$	941,991
Europe		212,556		132,592		9,679		354,827
Latin America		156,827		2,438		—		159,265
Asia		49,859		21,256		—		71,115
Total	$	1,062,708	$	404,446	$	60,044	$	1,527,198