Property, plant and equipment, at cost, consist of the following at December 31, 2025 and 2024 (in thousands):
Useful
Lives
(Years)
December 31,
20252024
Land$265,587 $295,176 
Land improvements
10 – 30
351,394 342,213 
Buildings and improvements
10 – 50
936,635 933,188 
Machinery and equipment(a)
2 – 45
7,812,518 8,187,422 
Mineral rights and reserves
7 – 60
1,759,775 1,755,770 
Construction in progress642,931 1,009,599 
Total$11,768,840 $12,523,368 
(a)Consists primarily of (1) short-lived production equipment components, office and building equipment and other equipment with estimated lives ranging 2 – 7 years, (2) production process equipment (intermediate components) with estimated lives ranging 8 – 19 years, (3) production process equipment (major unit components) with estimated lives ranging 20 – 29 years, and (4) production process equipment (infrastructure and other) with estimated lives ranging 30 – 45 years.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Feb 11, 2026Showing above
2024Feb 12, 2025
2023Feb 15, 2024
2022Feb 15, 2023
2021Feb 22, 2022
2020Feb 19, 2021
2019Feb 26, 2020
2018Feb 27, 2019
2017Feb 28, 2018
2016Feb 28, 2017
2015Feb 29, 2016

About PP&E Disclosures

The PP&E disclosure details a company's physical asset base — land, buildings, machinery, and equipment — along with the depreciation methods and useful life assumptions that determine how these costs flow through the income statement. Capitalization policy thresholds reveal management's judgment on the boundary between expense and asset, directly affecting both reported earnings and asset values.

Key signals: changes in estimated useful lives or depreciation methods can materially shift reported earnings without any operational change. Compare capital expenditures against depreciation expense — when capex consistently trails depreciation, the asset base may be aging and underinvested. Watch for large asset impairments or write-downs that signal overvalued carrying amounts. Asset retirement obligations reveal future environmental or decommissioning costs that are often underappreciated. Compare PP&E intensity (PP&E-to-revenue) against industry peers to assess capital efficiency and competitive positioning.