Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
We are exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, commodity prices for products we use in our manufacturing and interest rates. To reduce our exposure to these risks, we maintain risk management controls to monitor these risks and take appropriate actions to attempt to mitigate such forms of market risks.
Foreign currency exchange rate risk — Our foreign currency exposures are primarily associated with intercompany and third party sales and purchase transactions, cross-currency intercompany loans and external debt. We use forward contracts to manage our foreign currency exchange rate risk associated with a portion of our forecasted foreign currency-denominated sales and purchase transactions and with certain foreign currency-denominated assets and liabilities. We also use currency swaps, including fixed-to-fixed cross-currency interest rate swaps, to manage foreign currency exchange rate risk associated with our intercompany loans and external debt. Foreign currency exposures are reviewed quarterly, at a minimum, and natural offsets are considered prior to entering into derivative instruments.
Changes in the fair value of derivative instruments treated as cash flow hedges are reported in other comprehensive income (loss) (OCI). Deferred gains and losses are reclassified to earnings in the same period in which the underlying transactions affect earnings. Specifically, with respect to the cross-currency interest rate swap, to the extent we recognize an exchange gain or loss on the underlying external debt, we reclassify an offsetting portion from OCI to earnings in the same period.
Changes in the fair value of derivative instruments not treated as cash flow hedges are recognized in earnings in the period in which those changes occur. Changes in the fair value of derivative instruments associated with product-related transactions are recorded in cost of sales, while those associated with non-product transactions are recorded in other income (expense), net. See Note 14 of our consolidated financial statements in Item 8.
The following table summarizes the sensitivity of the fair value of our derivative instruments, including forward contracts and currency swaps, at December 31, 2023 to a 10% change in foreign exchange rates.
10% Increase
10% Decrease
in Rates
in Rates
Gain (Loss)
Gain (Loss)
Foreign currency rate sensitivity:
Currency swaps
$
(65
)
$
65
Forward contracts
$
(67
)
$
78
At December 31, 2023, of the $1,757 total notional amount of foreign currency derivatives, approximately 56% represents the aggregate of fixed-to-fixed cross-currency interest rate swaps while the remaining 44% primarily represents forward contracts associated with our forecasted foreign currency-denominated sales and purchase transactions.
To manage our global liquidity objectives, we periodically execute intercompany loans, some of which are foreign currency-denominated. With respect to such intercompany loans, the total notional amount outstanding at December 31, 2023 is approximately $975. Depending on the specific objective of each intercompany loan arrangement, certain intercompany loans may be hedged while others remain unhedged for strategic reasons. The decision to hedge the loan, to designate the loan itself as a hedge or not to hedge the loan is dependent on management's underlying strategy. Of the approximately $975 of foreign currency-denominated intercompany loans outstanding at December 31, 2023, $307, or 32%, has been hedged by one of our fixed-to-fixed cross-currency swaps whereby we have protected the income statement from exchange rate risk. Of the remaining 68% of such outstanding intercompany loans, $243 million has been hedged by foreign currency forwards and the remaining balances have not been hedged.
To align our cash requirements with availability by currency, we also periodically issue external debt that is denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the issuing entity. As of December 31, 2023, we had $200 of external U.S. dollar debt, issued by a euro-functional entity, all of which has been hedged by our fixed-to-fixed cross-currency interest rate swaps. Such swaps are treated as cash flow hedges whereby the changes in fair value are recorded in OCI to the extent the hedges remain effective.
Commodity price risk — We do not utilize derivative contracts to manage commodity price risk. Our overall strategy is to pass through commodity risk to our customers in our pricing agreements. A substantial portion of our customer agreements include contractual provisions for the pass-through of commodity price movements. In instances where the risk is not covered contractually, we have generally been able to adjust customer pricing to recover commodity cost increases.
29
Table of Contents