Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
We are exposed to certain market risks that exist as part of our ongoing business operations and we use derivative financial instruments, where appropriate, to manage these risks. As a matter of policy, we do not engage in trading or speculative transactions. For further information on accounting related to derivative financial instruments, refer to Note I – “Derivative Financial Instruments” in our Consolidated Financial Statements.
Foreign Exchange Risk
Our products are sold in over 100 countries around the world. The reporting currency for our consolidated financial statements is the U.S. dollar. Certain of our assets, liabilities, expenses, revenues and earnings are denominated in other countries’ currencies, including the Euro, British Pound, Chinese Yuan, Indian Rupee, Australian Dollar and Mexican Peso. Those assets, liabilities, expenses, revenues and earnings are translated into U.S. dollars at the applicable foreign exchange rates to prepare our consolidated financial statements. Therefore, increases or decreases in foreign exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and those other currencies affect the value of those items as reflected in our consolidated financial statements, even if their value remains unchanged in their original currency. Due to continued volatility of foreign exchange rates to the U.S. dollar, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates may have an impact on the accuracy of our financial guidance. Such fluctuations in foreign exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar may cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated and have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations. We assess foreign currency risk based on transactional cash flows, identify naturally offsetting positions and purchase hedging instruments to partially offset anticipated exposures.
At December 31, 2023, we performed a sensitivity analysis on the impact that aggregate changes in the translation effect of foreign exchange rate changes would have on our operating income. Based on this sensitivity analysis, we have determined that a change in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies by 10% to amounts already incorporated in the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 would have had approximately a $50 million impact on the translation effect of foreign exchange rate changes already included in our reported operating income for the period ended December 31, 2023.
Interest Rate Risk
We are exposed to interest rate volatility with regard to future issuances of fixed rate debt and existing issuances of variable rate debt. Primary exposure includes movements in benchmark rates. We manage our exposure to interest rate risk by establishing a mix of indebtedness bearing interest at both floating and fixed rates at inception and maintain a ratio of floating and fixed rates on this mix of indebtedness using interest rate derivatives when necessary. At December 31, 2023, less than 1% of our debt was floating rate debt and the weighted average interest rate of our total debt was 4.15%.
At December 31, 2023, we performed a sensitivity analysis for our financial instruments that have interest rate risk. We calculated the pretax earnings effect on our interest sensitive instruments. Based on this sensitivity analysis, we have determined that an increase of 10% in our average floating interest rates at December 31, 2023 would not have materially increased interest expense during the year ended December 31, 2023.
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Commodities Risk
In the absence of labor strikes or other unusual circumstances, substantially all materials and components are normally available from multiple suppliers. However, certain of our businesses receive materials and components from a single source supplier, although alternative suppliers of such materials may be generally available. Delays in our suppliers’ abilities, especially any sole suppliers for a particular business, to provide us with necessary materials and components may delay production at a number of our manufacturing locations, or may require us to seek alternative supply sources. Delays in obtaining supplies may result from a number of factors affecting our suppliers, including capacity constraints, regulatory changes, freight and container availability, labor disputes, suppliers’ impaired financial condition, suppliers’ allocations to other purchasers, weather emergencies, pandemics or acts of war or terrorism. Any delay in receiving supplies could impair our ability to deliver products to our customers and, accordingly, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Current and potential suppliers are evaluated regularly on their ability to meet our requirements and standards. We actively manage our material sourcing, and employ various methods to limit risk associated with commodity cost fluctuations and availability. While the overall continuity of material supply into our manufacturing operations has improved from the prior year, we continue to experience intermittent disruptions with certain material types, most notably electronic components. We have designed and implemented plans to mitigate the impact of these risks by using alternate suppliers, expanding our supply base globally, leveraging our overall purchasing volumes to obtain favorable pricing and quantities, developing a closer working relationship with key suppliers and purchasing hedging instruments to partially offset anticipated exposures. However, we anticipate that we will continue to be affected by intermittent material shortages and production delays into 2024, though the extent of these disruptions has eased.
Principal materials and components used in our various manufacturing processes include steel, castings, engines, tires, hydraulics, cylinders, drive trains, electric controls and motors, semiconductors, and a variety of other commodities and fabricated or manufactured items. Inflationary pressure on certain purchased components have continued while the cost of U.S. steel increased in the latter part of 2023. Additionally, import of certain purchased components and parts may be impacted by the implications of sanctions preventing the use of iron and steel from Russia in such components and parts. Tariffs on certain Chinese origin goods continue to put pressure on input costs, which we have been able to partially mitigate through the U.S. Government’s exclusion process, which has been extended through May 31, 2024, duty draw back and other mechanisms we continue to explore. If we are unable to recover a substantial portion of increased costs from our customers and suppliers or through duty draw back, our business or results of operations could be adversely affected. We will continue to monitor international trade policy and will make adjustments to our supply base where possible to mitigate the impact on our costs. For more information on commodities risk, see Part I, Item 1A. – Risk Factors.