| Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) | 12 Months Ended |
| Dec. 31, 2018 |
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
| Organization and Basis of Presentation | Organization and basis of presentation At December 31, 2018, Valhi, Inc. (NYSE: VHI) held approximately 50% of our outstanding common stock and a wholly-owned subsidiary of NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE: NL) held approximately 30% of our common stock. Valhi owned approximately 83% of NL’s outstanding common stock and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Contran Corporation held approximately 92% of Valhi’s outstanding common stock. All of Contran’s outstanding voting stock is held by a family trust established for the benefit of Lisa K. Simmons and Serena Simmons Connelly and their children, for which Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly are co-trustees, or is held directly by Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly or entities related to them. Consequently, Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly may be deemed to control Contran, Valhi, NL and us. Unless otherwise indicated, references in this report to “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Kronos Worldwide, Inc. and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole. |
| Management's Estimates | Management’s estimates – In preparing our financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) we are required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results may differ significantly from previously-estimated amounts under different assumptions or conditions. |
| Principles of Consolidation | Principles of consolidation – The consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of our majority-owned subsidiaries. We have eliminated all material intercompany accounts and balances. |
| Translation of Currencies | Translation of currencies – We translate the assets and liabilities of our subsidiaries whose functional currency is other than the U.S. dollar at year-end exchange rates, while we translate our revenues and expenses at average exchange rates prevailing during the year. We accumulate the resulting translation adjustments in stockholders’ equity as part of accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of related deferred income taxes. We recognize currency transaction gains and losses in income currently. |
| Derivatives and Hedging Activities | Derivatives and hedging activities – We recognize derivatives as either assets or liabilities measured at fair value. We recognize the effect of changes in the fair value of derivatives either in net income or other comprehensive income (loss), depending on the intended use of the derivative. See Note 17. |
| Cash and Cash Equivalents | Cash and cash equivalents – We classify bank time deposits and U.S. Treasury securities purchased under short-term agreements to resell with original maturities of three months or less as cash equivalents. |
| Restricted Cash | Restricted cash – We classify cash that has been segregated or is otherwise limited in use as restricted. Such restrictions or limitations relate to certain Norwegian payroll tax and employee benefit obligations. To the extent the restricted amount relates to a recognized liability, we classify such restricted amount as either a current or noncurrent asset to correspond with the classification of the liability. To the extent the restricted amount does not relate to a recognized liability, we classify restricted cash as a current asset. All of our restricted cash is classified as a current asset and is separately presented on the face of the statement of financial position. |
| Marketable Securities and Securities Transactions | Marketable securities and securities transactions – We carry marketable securities at fair value. Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures , establishes a consistent framework for measuring fair value and (with certain exceptions) this framework is generally applied to all financial statement items required to be measured at fair value. The standard requires fair value measurements to be classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:
•
Level 1 – Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
•
Level 2 – Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs which are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the assets or liability; and
•
Level 3 – Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable. We classify all of our marketable securities as available-for-sale. Prior to 2018, any unrealized gains or losses on the securities were recognized through other comprehensive income, net of deferred income taxes. Beginning on January 1, 2018 with the adoption of ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments – Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities See Notes 6, 10 and 17. |
| Accounts Receivable | Accounts receivable – We provide an allowance for doubtful accounts for known and estimated potential losses arising from sales to customers based on a periodic review of these accounts. See Note 3. |
| Inventories and Cost of Sales | Inventories and cost of sales – We state inventories at the lower of cost or net realizable value, net of allowance for obsolete and slow-moving inventories. We generally base inventory costs for all inventory categories on average cost that approximates the first-in, first-out method. Inventories include the costs for raw materials, the cost to manufacture the raw materials into finished goods and overhead. Depending on the inventory’s stage of completion, our manufacturing costs can include the costs of packing and finishing, utilities, maintenance, depreciation, and salaries and benefits associated with our manufacturing process. We allocate fixed manufacturing overheads based on normal production capacity. Unallocated overhead costs resulting from periods with abnormally low production levels are charged to expense as incurred. As inventory is sold to third parties, we recognize the cost of sales in the same period that the sale occurs. We periodically review our inventory for estimated obsolescence or instances when inventory is no longer marketable for its intended use, and we record any write-down equal to the difference between the cost of inventory and its estimated net realizable value based on assumptions about alternative uses, market conditions and other factors. See Note 4. |
| Investment in TiO2 Manufacturing Joint Venture | Investment in TiO 2 manufacturing joint venture We account for our investment in a 50%-owned manufacturing joint venture by the equity method |
| Property and Equipment and Depreciation | Property and equipment and depreciation – We state property and equipment at cost, including capitalized interest on borrowings during the actual construction period of major capital projects. Capitalized interest costs were $.9 million in 2016, $2.0 million in 2017 and $.8 million in 2018. We compute depreciation of property and equipment for financial reporting purposes (including mining equipment) principally by the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:
Asset
Useful lives
Buildings and improvements
10 to 40 years
Machinery and equipment
3 to 20 years
Mine development costs
units-of-production We use accelerated depreciation methods for income tax purposes, as permitted. Upon the sale or retirement of an asset, we remove the related cost and accumulated depreciation from the accounts and recognize any gain or loss in income currently. We expense costs incurred for maintenance, repairs and minor renewals (including planned major maintenance) while we capitalize expenditures for major improvements. We have a governmental concession with an unlimited term to operate our ilmenite mines in Norway. Mining properties consist of buildings and equipment used in our Norwegian ilmenite mining operations. While we own the land and ilmenite reserves associated with the mining operations, such land and reserves were acquired for nominal value and we have no material asset recognized for the land and reserves related to our mining operations. We perform impairment tests when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. We consider all relevant factors. We perform the impairment test by comparing the estimated future undiscounted cash flows (exclusive of interest expense) associated with the asset to the asset’s net carrying value to determine if a write-down to fair value or discounted cash flow value is required. |
| Long-term Debt | Long-term debt – We state long-term debt net of any unamortized original issue premium, discount or deferred financing costs (other than deferred financing costs associated with revolving credit facilities, which are recognized as an asset). We classify amortization of all deferred financing costs and any premium or discount associated with the issuance of indebtedness as interest expense and compute such amortization by either the interest method or the straight-line method over the term of the applicable issue. See Note 8. |
| Employee Benefit Plans | Employee benefit plans – Accounting and funding policies for our defined benefit pension and defined contribution retirement plans are described in Note 10. We also provide certain postretirement benefits other than pensions (OPEB), consisting of health care and life insurance benefits, to certain U.S. and Canadian retired employees, which are not material. See Note 11. Defined contribution plans – We maintain various defined contribution pension plans with our contributions based on matching or other formulas. Defined contribution plan expense approximated $2.8 million in 2016, $2.7 million in 2017 and $3.3 million in 2018. Defined benefit pension plans – We sponsor various defined benefit pension plans. Certain non-U.S. employees are covered by plans in their respective countries. Our U.S. plan was closed to new participants in 1996, and existing participants no longer accrued any additional benefits after that date. The benefits under our plans are based upon years of service and employee compensation. Our funding policy is to contribute annually the minimum amount required under ERISA (or equivalent non-U.S.) regulations plus additional amounts as we deem appropriate. We recognize an asset or liability for the over or under funded status of each of our individual defined benefit pension plans on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Changes in the funded status of these plans are recognized either in net income, to the extent they are reflected in periodic benefit cost, or through other comprehensive income (loss). |
| Income Taxes | Income taxes – We, Valhi and our qualifying subsidiaries are members of Contran’s consolidated U.S. federal income tax group (the Contran Tax Group) and we and certain of our qualifying subsidiaries also file consolidated income tax returns with Contran in various U.S. state jurisdictions. As a member of the Contran Tax Group, we are jointly and severally liable for the federal income tax liability of Contran and the other companies included in the Contran Tax Group for all periods in which we are included in the Contran Tax Group. See Note 16. As a member of the Contran Tax Group, we are a party to a tax sharing agreement which provides that we compute our provision for U.S. income taxes on a separate-company basis using the tax elections made by Contran. Pursuant to the tax sharing agreement, we make payments to or receive payments from Valhi in amounts we would have paid to or received from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or the applicable state tax authority had we not been a member of the Contran Tax Group. We made net payments of income taxes to Valhi of $.8 million in 2016 and $16.8 million in 2017 and received net refunds of income taxes from Valhi of $1.9 million in 2018. We recognize deferred income tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the income tax and financial reporting carrying amounts of assets and liabilities, including investments in our subsidiaries and affiliates who are not members of the Contran Tax Group and undistributed earnings of non-U.S. subsidiaries which are not deemed to be permanently reinvested. At December 31, 2018, we continue to assert indefinite reinvestment as it relates to our outside basis difference attributable to our investments in our non-U.S. subsidiaries, other than post-1986 undistributed earnings of our European subsidiaries and all undistributed earnings of our Canadian subsidiary, which are not subject to permanent reinvestment plans. It is currently not practical for us to determine the amount of the unrecognized deferred income tax liability related to our investments in our non-U.S. subsidiaries which are permanently reinvested due to the complexities associated with our organizational structure, changes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017 Tax Act) enacted on December 22, 2017, and the U.S. taxation of such investments in the states in which we operate. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities for each tax-paying jurisdiction in which we operate are netted and presented as either a noncurrent deferred income tax asset or liability, as applicable. We periodically evaluate our deferred tax assets in the various taxing jurisdictions in which we operate and adjust any related valuation allowance based on the estimate of the amount of such deferred tax assets that we believe does not meet the more-likely-than-not recognition criteria. |
| Income Tax Uncertainties | We account for the tax effects of a change in tax law as a component of the income tax provision related to continuing operations in the period of enactment, including the tax effects of any deferred income taxes originally established through a financial statement component other than continuing operations (i.e. other comprehensive income). Changes in applicable income tax rates over time as a result of changes in tax law, or times in which a deferred income tax asset valuation allowance is initially recognized in one year and subsequently reversed in a later year, can give rise to “stranded” tax effects in accumulated other comprehensive income in which the net accumulated income tax (benefit) remaining in accumulated other comprehensive income does not correspond to the then-applicable income tax rate applied to the pre-tax amount which resides in accumulated other comprehensive income. As permitted by GAAP, our accounting policy is to remove any such stranded tax effect remaining in accumulated other comprehensive income, by recognizing an offset to our provision for income taxes related to continuing operations, only at the time when there is no remaining pre-tax amount in accumulated other comprehensive income. For accumulated other comprehensive income related to currency translation, this would occur only upon the sale or complete liquidation of one of our non-U.S. subsidiaries. For defined pension benefit plans and OPEB plans, this would occur whenever one of our subsidiaries which previously sponsored a defined benefit pension or OPEB plan had terminated such a plan and had no future obligation or plan asset associated with such a plan. We record a reserve for uncertain tax positions for tax positions where we believe that it is more-likely-than-not our position will not prevail with the applicable tax authorities. The amount of the benefit associated with our uncertain tax positions that we recognize is limited to the largest amount for which we believe the likelihood of realization is greater than 50%. We accrue penalties and interest on the difference between tax positions taken on our tax returns and the amount of benefit recognized for financial reporting purposes. We classify our reserves for uncertain tax positions in a separate current or noncurrent liability, depending on the nature of the tax position. See Note 13. |
| Net Sales | Net sales – Our sales involve single performance obligations to ship our products pursuant to customer purchase orders. In some cases, the purchase order is supported by an underlying master sales agreement, but our purchase order acceptance generally evidences the contract with our customer by specifying the key terms of product and quantity ordered, price and delivery and payment terms. Effective January 1, 2018 with the adoption of ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) , see Note 18, we record revenue when we satisfy our performance obligation to our customers by transferring control of our products to them, which generally occurs at point of shipment or upon delivery. Such transfer of control is also evidenced by transfer of legal title and other risks and rewards of ownership (giving the customer the ability to direct the use of, and obtain substantially all of the benefits of, the product), and our customers becoming obligated to pay us and such payment is probable of occurring. In certain arrangements we provide shipping and handling activities after the transfer of control to our customer (e.g. when control transfers prior to delivery) that are considered fulfillment activities, and accordingly, such costs are accrued when the related revenue is recognized. Sales arrangements with consignment customers occur when our product is shipped to a consignment customer location but we maintain control until the product is used in the customer’s manufacturing process. In these instances, we recognize sales when the consignment customer uses our product, as control of our product has not passed to the customer until that time and all other revenue recognition criteria have been satisfied. Prior to the adoption of ASU 2014-09, we recorded sales when our products were shipped and title and other risks and rewards of ownership had passed to the customer, which was generally at the time of shipment (although in some instances shipping terms were FOB destination point, for which we did not recognize revenue until the product was received by our customer). Revenue is recorded in an amount that reflects the net consideration we expect to receive in exchange for our products. Prices for our products are based on terms specified in published list prices and purchase orders, which generally do not include financing components, noncash consideration or consideration paid to our customers. As our standard payment terms are less than one year, we have elected the practical expedient under ASU 2014-09 and have not assessed whether a contract has a significant financing component. We state sales net of price, early payment, and distributor discounts and volume rebates (collectively, variable consideration). Variable consideration, to the extent present, is recognized as the amount to which we are most-likely to be entitled, using all information (historical, current and forecasted) that is reasonably available to us, and only to the extent that a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized is not probable of occurring in a future period. Differences, if any, between estimates of the amount of variable consideration to which we will be entitled and the actual amount of such variable consideration have not been material in the past. Amounts received or receivable from our customers with respect to variable consideration we expect to refund to our customers is recognized as a current liability and classified as accrued sales discounts and rebates. See Note 9. We report any tax assessed by a governmental authority that we collect from our customers that is both imposed on and concurrent with our revenue-producing activities (such as sales, use, value added and excise taxes) on a net basis (meaning we do not recognize these taxes either in our revenues or in our costs and expenses). Frequently, we receive orders for products to be delivered over dates that may extend across reporting periods. We invoice for each delivery upon shipment and recognize revenue for each distinct shipment when all sales recognition criteria for that shipment have been satisfied. As scheduled delivery dates for these orders are within a one year period, under the optional exemption provided by ASU 2014-09, we do not disclose sales allocated to future shipments of partially completed contracts. ASU 2014-09 requires a disaggregation of our sales into categories that depict how the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows are affected by economic factors. We have determined such disaggregation of our sales is the same as the disclosure of our sales by place of manufacture (point of origin) and to the location of the customer (point of destination). See Note 2. |
| Selling, General and Administrative Expense | Selling, general and administrative expense; shipping and handling costs – Selling, general and administrative expense includes costs related to marketing, sales, distribution, shipping and handling, research and development, legal and administrative functions such as accounting, treasury and finance, and includes costs for salaries and benefits not associated with our manufacturing process, travel and entertainment, promotional materials and professional fees. |
| Shipping and Handling Costs | We include shipping and handling costs in selling, general and administrative expense and these costs were $90 million in 2016, $101 million in 2017 and $105 million in 2018. |
| Research and Development | We expense research and development costs as incurred, and these costs were $13 million in 2016, $18 million in 2017 and $16 million in 2018. |
| Advertising Costs | We expense advertising costs as incurred and these costs were not material in any year presented. |
| Concentrations of credit risk | Concentrations of credit risk – Sales of TiO 2 accounted for 93% our net sales in 2016 and 94% in each of 2017 and 2018. The remaining sales result from the mining and sale of ilmenite ore (a raw material used in the sulfate pigment production process), and the manufacture and sale of iron-based water treatment chemicals and certain titanium chemical products (derived from co-products of the TiO 2 production processes). TiO 2 is generally sold to the paint, plastics and paper industries. Such markets are generally considered “quality-of-life” markets whose demand for TiO 2 is influenced by the relative economic well-being of the various geographic regions. We sell TiO 2 to approximately 4,000 customers, with the top ten customers approximating 33% of net sales in 2016, 34% in 2017 and 33% in 2018. One customer, Behr Process Corporation, accounted for approximately 10% of our net sales in 2016. We did not have sales to a single customer comprising 10% or more of our net sales in 2017 and 2018. The table below shows the approximate percentage of our TiO 2
2016
2017
2018
Europe
51
%
50
%
44
%
North America
29
%
31
%
37
% |
| Operating leases | Operating leases – Our principal German operating subsidiary leases the land under its Leverkusen TiO 2 production facility pursuant to a lease with Bayer AG that expires in 2050. The Leverkusen facility itself, which we own and which represents approximately one-third of our current TiO 2 production capacity, is located within Bayer’s extensive manufacturing complex. We periodically establish the amount of rent for the land lease associated with the Leverkusen facility by agreement with Bayer for periods of at least two years at a time. The lease agreement provides for no formula, index or other mechanism to determine changes in the rent for such land lease; rather, any change in the rent is subject solely to periodic negotiation between Bayer and us. We recognize any change in the rent based on such negotiations as part of lease expense starting from the time such change is agreed upon by both parties, as any such change in the rent is deemed “contingent rentals” under GAAP. Under the terms of various supply and services agreements, majority-owned subsidiaries of Bayer provide raw materials, including chlorine, auxiliary and operating materials, utilities and services necessary to operate the Leverkusen facility. These agreements, as amended, expire in 2019 through 2022. We expect to renew these agreements prior to expiration at similar terms and conditions. We also lease various other manufacturing facilities and equipment. Some of the leases contain purchase and/or various term renewal options at fair market and fair rental values, respectively. In most cases we expect that, in the normal course of business, such leases will be renewed or replaced by other leases. Net rent expense approximated $14 million in 2016, $16 million in 2017 and $15 million in 2018. At December 31, 2018, future minimum payments under non-cancellable operating leases having an initial or remaining term of more than one year were as follows:
Years ending December 31,
Amount
(In millions)
2019
$
6.2
2020
5.0
2021
4.2
2022
3.2
2023
2.4
2024 and thereafter
21.5
Total
$
42.5
Approximately $17 million of the $42.5 million aggregate future minimum rental commitments at December 31, 2018 relates to our Leverkusen facility lease discussed above. The minimum commitment amounts for such lease included in the table above for each year through the 2050 expiration of the lease are based upon the current annual rental rate as of December 31, 2018. As discussed above, any change in the rent is based solely on negotiations between Bayer and us, and any such change in the rent is deemed “contingent rentals” under GAAP which is excluded from the future minimum lease payments disclosed above. |
| New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy | Adopted On January 1, 2018, we adopted ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) On January 1, 2018, we adopted ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments-Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities In March 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued ASU 2017-07, Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715) Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost Pending Adoption In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) |
