7. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES.

Sales Commitments – At September 30, 2022, the Company had entered into sales contracts with its major customers to sell certain quantities of alcohol and essential ingredients. The Company had open alcohol indexed-price contracts for 92,771,000 gallons as of September 30, 2022 and open fixed-price alcohol sales contracts totaling $101,427,000 as of September 30, 2022. The Company had open fixed-price sales contracts for essential ingredients totaling $17,274,000 as of September 30, 2022. These sales contracts are scheduled to be completed throughout 2022 and 2023.

Purchase Commitments – At September 30, 2022, the Company had indexed-price purchase contracts to purchase 13,988,000 gallons of alcohol and fixed-price purchase contracts to purchase $45,599,000 of alcohol from its suppliers. The Company had fixed-price purchase contracts to purchase $38,769,000 of corn from its suppliers as of September 30, 2022. The Company had fixed-price purchase contracts for natural gas totaling $1,947,000 and indexed-price purchase contracts for natural gas totaling 4,463,000 MMBTU. The Company also had future commitments for certain capital projects totaling $46,796,000. These purchase commitments are scheduled to be satisfied throughout 2022 and 2023.

Litigation – General – The Company is subject to various claims and contingencies in the ordinary course of its business, including those related to litigation, business transactions, employee-related matters, environmental regulations, and others. When the Company is aware of a claim or potential claim, it assesses the likelihood of any loss or exposure. If it is probable that a loss will result and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated, the Company will record a liability for the loss. If the loss is not probable or the amount of the loss cannot be reasonably estimated, the Company discloses the claim if the likelihood of a potential loss is reasonably possible and the amount involved could be material. While there can be no assurances, the Company does not expect that any of its pending legal proceedings will have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.