Air Products Chemicals Inc

9. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

Fair value is defined as an exit price, or the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.

The fair value hierarchy prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three broad levels as follows:

Level 1 — Quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 — Inputs that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly through market corroboration, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability.

Level 3 — Inputs that are unobservable for the asset or liability based on our own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

The methods and assumptions used to measure the fair value of financial instruments are as follows:

Short-term Investments

Short-term investments primarily include time deposits with original maturities greater than three months and less than one year. We estimated the fair value of our short-term investments, which approximates carrying value as of the balance sheet date, using Level 2 inputs within the fair value hierarchy. Level 2 measurements were based on current interest rates for similar investments with comparable credit risk and time to maturity.

Derivatives

The fair value of our interest rate management contracts and forward exchange contracts are quantified using the income approach and are based on estimates using standard pricing models. These models consider the value of future cash flows as of the balance sheet date, discounted to a present value using discount factors that match both the time to maturity and currency of the underlying instruments. These standard pricing models utilize inputs that are derived from or corroborated by observable market data such as interest rate yield curves as well as currency spot and forward rates; therefore, the fair value of our derivatives is classified as a Level 2 measurement. On an ongoing basis, we randomly test a subset of our valuations against valuations received from the transaction’s counterparty to validate the accuracy of our standard pricing models. Counterparties to these derivative contracts are highly rated financial institutions.

Refer to Note 8, Financial Instruments, for a description of derivative instruments, including details related to the balance sheet line classifications.

Long-term Debt, Including Related Party

The fair value of our debt is based on estimates using standard pricing models that consider the value of future cash flows as of the balance sheet date, discounted to a present value using discount factors that match both the time to maturity and currency of the underlying instruments. These standard valuation models utilize observable market data such as interest rate yield curves and currency spot rates; therefore, the fair value of our debt is classified as a Level 2 measurement.

The carrying values and fair values of financial instruments were as follows:

The carrying amounts reported on the consolidated balance sheets for cash and cash items, short-term investments, trade receivables, payables and accrued liabilities, accrued income taxes, and short-term borrowings approximate fair value due to the short-term nature of these instruments. Accordingly, these items have been excluded from the above table.

The table below summarizes assets and liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis: