Segment sales were $100.7 million lower in 2009 than in 2008, primarily as a result of the impact of lower aluminum prices partially offset by an increase in sales volumes.
The higher sales volumes in 2009 were the result of incremental volumes from the four plants purchased from AB InBev, partially offset by certain plant closures and lower sales volumes in the existing business.
Segment earnings in 2010 were $122.3 million higher than in 2009 primarily due to a net $85 million impact related to the higher sales volumes and $45 million of product mix and improved manufacturing performance associated with higher production.
Also adding to the 2010 improvement was the effect of a $7 million out-of-period inventory charge in 2009.
The details of the out-of-period adjustment are included in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements included within Item 8 of this report.
Segment earnings in 2009 were higher than in 2008 due to $12 million of earnings contribution from the four acquired plants and approximately $21 million of savings associated with plant closures.
Partially offsetting these favorable impacts were lower carbonated soft drink and beer can sales volumes (excluding the newly acquired plants) and approximately $25 million related to higher cost inventories in the first half of 2009.
Metal Beverage Packaging, Europe
## Table 0 ##
(a) Further details of these items are included in Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements within Item 8 of this report.
The metal beverage packaging, Europe, segment includes metal beverage packaging products manufactured in Europe.
Ball Packaging Europe has manufacturing plants located in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Serbia, and is the second largest metal beverage container business in Europe.
Segment sales in 2010 decreased $41.9 million compared to 2009, primarily due to unfavorable foreign exchange effects of $93 million and price and mix changes, partially offset by higher sales volumes.
Segment sales in 2009 as compared to 2008 were $129.2 million lower due to $110 million of unfavorable foreign exchange effects, partially offset by better commercial terms.
Sales volumes in 2009 were essentially flat compared to those in the prior year.
Segment earnings in 2010 decreased $1.9 million compared to 2009, primarily the result of a $28 million increase related to higher sales volumes, offset by $18 million of negative effects from foreign currency translation and $12 million of higher inventory and other costs.
While 2009 sales volumes were consistent with the prior year, the adverse effects of foreign currency translation, both within Europe and on the conversion of the euro to the U. S.  dollar, reduced segment earnings by $8 million.
Also contributing to lower segment earnings were higher cost inventory carried into 2009 and a change in sales mix, partially offset by better commercial terms in some of our contracts.
On January 18, 2011, Ball acquired Aerocan S. A. S.  (Aerocan), a leading European supplier of aluminum aerosol cans and Segment sales were $100.7 million lower in 2009 than in 2008, primarily as a result of the impact of lower aluminum prices partially offset by an increase in sales volumes.
The higher sales volumes in 2009 were the result of incremental volumes from the four plants purchased from AB InBev, partially offset by certain plant closures and lower sales volumes in the existing business.
Segment earnings in 2010 were $122.3 million higher than in 2009 primarily due to a net $85 million impact related to the higher sales volumes and $45 million of product mix and improved manufacturing performance associated with higher production.
Also adding to the 2010 improvement was the effect of a $7 million out-of-period inventory charge in 2009.
The details of the out-of-period adjustment are included in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements included within Item 8 of this report.
Segment earnings in 2009 were higher than in 2008 due to $12 million of earnings contribution from the four acquired plants and approximately $21 million of savings associated with plant closures.
Partially offsetting these favorable impacts were lower carbonated soft drink and beer can sales volumes (excluding the newly acquired plants) and approximately $25 million related to higher cost inventories in the first half of 2009.
Metal Beverage Packaging, Europe
(a) Further details of these items are included in Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements within Item 8 of this report.
The metal beverage packaging, Europe, segment includes metal beverage packaging products manufactured in Europe.
Ball Packaging Europe has manufacturing plants located in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Serbia, and is the second largest metal beverage container business in Europe.
Segment sales in 2010 decreased $41.9 million compared to 2009, primarily due to unfavorable foreign exchange effects of $93 million and price and mix changes, partially offset by higher sales volumes.
Segment sales in 2009 as compared to 2008 were $129.2 million lower due to $110 million of unfavorable foreign exchange effects, partially offset by better commercial terms.
Sales volumes in 2009 were essentially flat compared to those in the prior year.
Segment earnings in 2010 decreased $1.9 million compared to 2009, primarily the result of a $28 million increase related to higher sales volumes, offset by $18 million of negative effects from foreign currency translation and $12 million of higher inventory and other costs.
While 2009 sales volumes were consistent with the prior year, the adverse effects of foreign currency translation, both within Europe and on the conversion of the euro to the U. S.  dollar, reduced segment earnings by $8 million.
Also contributing to lower segment earnings were higher cost inventory carried into 2009 and a change in sales mix, partially offset by better commercial terms in some of our contracts.
On January 18, 2011, Ball acquired Aerocan S. A. S.  (Aerocan), a leading European supplier of aluminum aerosol cans and bottles, for €222.4 million (approximately $300 million) in cash and assumed debt.
Aerocan manufactures extruded aluminum aerosol cans and bottles, and the aluminum slugs used to make them, for customers in the personal care, pharmaceutical, beverage and food industries.
It operates three aerosol can manufacturing plants ¨C one each in the Czech Republic, France and the United Kingdom ¨C and is a 51 percent owner of a joint venture aluminum slug plant in France.
The four plants employ approximately 560 people.
The acquisition of Aerocan will allow Ball to enter a growing part of the metal packaging industry and to broaden the company¡¯s market development efforts into a new customer base.
Key actuarial assumptions contain no explicit provisions for reserve uncertainty nor does the Company supplement the actuarially determined reserves for uncertainty.
Carried reserves at each reporting date are the Company’s best estimate of ultimate unpaid losses and LAE at that date.
The Company completes detailed reserve studies for each exposure group annually for both reinsurance and insurance operations.
The completed annual reserve studies are “rolled-forward” for each accounting period until the subsequent reserve study is completed.
Analyzing the roll-forward process involves comparing actual reported losses to expected losses based on the most recent reserve study.
The Company analyzes significant variances between actual and expected losses and post adjustments to its reserves as warranted.
The Company continues to receive claims under expired insurance and reinsurance contracts asserting injuries and/or damages relating to or resulting from environmental pollution and hazardous substances, including asbestos.
Environmental claims typically assert liability for (a) the mitigation or remediation of environmental contamination or (b) bodily injury or property damage caused by the release of hazardous substances into the land, air or water.
Asbestos claims typically assert liability for bodily injury from exposure to asbestos or for property damage resulting from asbestos or products containing asbestos.
The Company’s reserves include an estimate of the Company’s ultimate liability for A&E claims.
The Company’s A&E liabilities emanate from Mt.
McKinley’s direct insurance business and Everest Re’s assumed reinsurance business.
All of the contracts of insurance and reinsurance, under which the Company has received claims during the past three years, expired more than 20 years ago.
There are significant uncertainties surrounding the Company’s reserves for its A&E losses.
A&E exposures represent a separate exposure group for monitoring and evaluating reserve adequacy.
The following table summarizes incurred losses with respect to A&E reserves on both a gross and net of reinsurance basis for the periods indicated:
## Table 1 ##
In 2015, the Company sold Mt.
McKinley, a Delaware domiciled insurance company and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company to Clearwater Insurance Company, a Delaware domiciled insurance company.
Concurrently with the closing, the Company entered into a retrocession treaty with an affiliate of Clearwater Insurance Company.
Per the retrocession treaty, the Company retroceded 100% of the liabilities associated with certain Mt.
McKinley policies, which related entirely to A&E business and had been reinsured by Bermuda Re.
As consideration for entering into the retrocession treaty, Everest Re Bermuda transferred cash of $140,279 thousand, an amount equal to the net loss reserves as of the closing date.
The maximum liability retroceded under the retrocession treaty will be $440,279 thousand, equal to the retrocession payment plus $300,000 thousand.
The Company will retain liability for any amounts exceeding the maximum liability retroceded under the retrocession treaty.
Activity in the reserve for future policy benefits is summarized for the periods indicated:
## Table 2 ##
Investments.
The board of directors of each of the Company’s operating subsidiaries is responsible for establishing investment policy and guidelines and, together with senior management, for overseeing their execution.
The Company’s principal investment objectives are to ensure funds are available to meet its insurance and reinsurance obligations and to maximize after-tax investment income while maintaining a high quality diversified investment portfolio.
Considering these objectives, the Company views its investment portfolio as having two components: 1) the investments needed to satisfy outstanding liabilities (its core fixed maturities portfolio) and 2) investments funded by the Company’s shareholders’ equity.
For the portion needed to satisfy global outstanding liabilities, the Company generally invests in taxable and tax-preferenced fixed income securities with an average credit quality of Aa3.
For the U. S.  portion of this portfolio, the Company’s mix of taxable and tax-preferenced investments is adjusted periodically, consistent with the Company’s current and projected U. S.  operating results, market conditions and our tax position.
This global fixed maturity securities portfolio is externally managed by independent, professional investment managers using portfolio guidelines approved by the Company.
Over the past several years, the Company has expanded the allocation of its investments funded by shareholders’ equity to include: 1) a greater percentage of publicly traded equity securities, 2) emerging market fixed maturities through mutual fund structures, as well as individual holdings, 3) high yield fixed maturities, 4) bank and private loan securities and 5) private equity limited partnership investments.
The objective of this portfolio diversification is to enhance the risk-adjusted total return of the investment portfolio by allocating a prudent portion of the portfolio to higher return asset classes, which are also less subject to changes in value with movements in interest rates.
The Company limits its allocation to these asset classes because of 1) the potential for volatility in their values and 2) the impact of these investments on regulatory and rating agency capital adequacy models.
The Company uses investment managers experienced in these markets and adjusts its allocation to these investments based upon market conditions.
At December 31, 2018, the market value of investments in these investment market sectors, carried at both market and fair value, approximated 52% of shareholders’ equity.
The duration of an investment is based on the maturity of the security but also reflects the payment of interest and the possibility of early prepayments.
The Company’s fixed income investment guidelines include a general duration guideline.
This investment duration guideline is established and periodically revised by management, which considers economic and business factors, as well as the Company’s average duration of potential liabilities, which, at December 31, 2018, is estimated at approximately 3.0 years, based on the estimated payouts of underwriting liabilities using standard duration calculations.
The duration of the fixed income portfolio at December 31, 2018 and 2017 was 3.0 years and 3.1 years, respectively.
The Company shortened the duration of its portfolio in recent years in response to very low available yields, particularly on securities with longer maturities.
As a result, the Company has focused on purchasing high quality, shorter duration investments and investments with floating rate yields.
These investments will be less subject to decline in market value as interest rates rise in the future, as forecasted by most investment analysts.
For each currency in which the Company has established substantial loss and LAE reserves, the Company seeks to maintain invested assets denominated in such currency in an amount approximately equal to the
Loss and LAE Reserves.
Gross loss and LAE reserves totaled $13,119.1 million and $11,884.3 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
The following tables summarize gross outstanding loss and LAE reserves by segment, classified by case reserves and IBNR reserves, for the periods indicated.
## Table 3 ##
(Some amounts may not reconcile due to rounding. )
## Table 4 ##
Changes in premiums earned and business mix, reserve re-estimations, catastrophe losses and changes in catastrophe loss reserves and claim settlement activity all impact loss and LAE reserves by segment and in total.
Our loss and LAE reserves represent management’s best estimate of our ultimate liability for unpaid claims.
We continuously re-evaluate our reserves, including re-estimates of prior period reserves, taking into consideration all available information and, in particular, newly reported loss and claim experience.
Changes in reserves resulting from such re-evaluations are reflected in incurred losses in the period when the reevaluation is made.
Our analytical methods and processes operate at multiple levels including individual contracts, groupings of like contracts, classes and lines of business, internal business units, segments, legal entities, and in the aggregate.
In order to set appropriate reserves, we make qualitative and quantitative analyses and judgments at these various levels.
Additionally, the attribution of reserves, changes in reserves and incurred losses among accident years requires qualitative and quantitative adjustments and allocations at these various levels.
We utilize actuarial science, business expertise and management judgment in a manner intended to ensure the accuracy and consistency of our reserving practices.
Nevertheless, our reserves are estimates, which are subject to variation, which may be significant.
There can be no assurance that reserves for, and losses from, claim obligations will not increase in the future, possibly by a material amount.
However, we believe that our existing reserves and reserving methodologies lessen the probability that any such increase would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

<table><tr><td>($ in millions)</td><td>2010</td><td>2009</td><td>2008</td></tr><tr><td>Net sales</td><td>$1,697.6</td><td>$1,739.5</td><td>$1,868.7</td></tr><tr><td>Segment earnings</td><td>$212.9</td><td>$214.8</td><td>$230.9</td></tr><tr><td>Business consolidation costs(a)</td><td>-3.2</td><td>−</td><td>−</td></tr><tr><td>Total segment earnings</td><td>$209.7</td><td>$214.8</td><td>$230.9</td></tr></table>
<table><tr><td></td><td colspan="3">At December 31,</td></tr><tr><td>(Dollars in thousands)</td><td>2018</td><td>2017</td><td>2016</td></tr><tr><td>Gross basis:</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Beginning of period reserves</td><td>$448,994</td><td>$441,111</td><td>$433,117</td></tr><tr><td>Incurred losses</td><td>-2,473</td><td>90,009</td><td>73,336</td></tr><tr><td>Paid losses</td><td>-99,026</td><td>-82,126</td><td>-65,342</td></tr><tr><td>End of period reserves</td><td>$347,495</td><td>$448,994</td><td>$441,111</td></tr><tr><td>Net basis:</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Beginning of period reserves</td><td>$318,081</td><td>$319,072</td><td>$319,620</td></tr><tr><td>Incurred losses</td><td>-</td><td>37,137</td><td>53,909</td></tr><tr><td>Paid losses</td><td>-56,624</td><td>-38,128</td><td>-54,457</td></tr><tr><td>End of period reserves</td><td>$261,456</td><td>$318,081</td><td>$319,072</td></tr></table>
<table><tr><td></td><td colspan="3">At December 31,</td></tr><tr><td>(Dollars in millions)</td><td>2018</td><td>2017</td><td>2016</td></tr><tr><td>Balance at beginning of year</td><td>$51.0</td><td>$55.1</td><td>$58.9</td></tr><tr><td>Liabilities assumed</td><td>0.1</td><td>0.1</td><td>0.2</td></tr><tr><td>Adjustments to reserves</td><td>0.8</td><td>-0.4</td><td>0.3</td></tr><tr><td>Benefits paid in the current year</td><td>-5.1</td><td>-3.7</td><td>-4.3</td></tr><tr><td>Balance at end of year</td><td>$46.8</td><td>$51.0</td><td>$55.1</td></tr><tr><td>(Some amounts may not reconcile due to rounding.)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>
<table><tr><td></td><td colspan="4">At December 31, 2018</td></tr><tr><td>(Dollars in millions)</td><td>Case Reserves</td><td>IBNR Reserves</td><td>Total Reserves</td><td>% of Total</td></tr><tr><td>U.S. Reinsurance</td><td>$2,191.5</td><td>$2,498.7</td><td>$4,690.2</td><td>35.8%</td></tr><tr><td>International</td><td>1,194.3</td><td>1,010.4</td><td>2,204.7</td><td>16.8%</td></tr><tr><td>Bermuda</td><td>1,163.5</td><td>1,592.4</td><td>2,755.9</td><td>21.0%</td></tr><tr><td>Insurance</td><td>1,082.0</td><td>2,038.9</td><td>3,120.9</td><td>23.8%</td></tr><tr><td>Total excluding A&E</td><td>5,631.2</td><td>7,140.4</td><td>12,771.6</td><td>97.4%</td></tr><tr><td>A&E</td><td>270.6</td><td>76.9</td><td>347.5</td><td>2.6%</td></tr><tr><td>Total including A&E</td><td>$5,901.9</td><td>$7,217.3</td><td>$13,119.1</td><td>100.0%</td></tr><tr><td>(Some amounts may not reconcile due to rounding.)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>
<table><tr><td></td><td colspan="4">At December 31, 2017</td></tr><tr><td>(Dollars in millions)</td><td>Case Reserves</td><td>IBNR Reserves</td><td>Total Reserves</td><td>% of Total</td></tr><tr><td>U.S. Reinsurance</td><td>$1,719.6</td><td>$2,041.0</td><td>$3,760.6</td><td>31.6%</td></tr><tr><td>International</td><td>1,147.6</td><td>1,022.9</td><td>2,170.5</td><td>18.3%</td></tr><tr><td>Bermuda</td><td>1,037.8</td><td>1,417.0</td><td>2,454.8</td><td>20.7%</td></tr><tr><td>Insurance</td><td>1,049.4</td><td>2,000.0</td><td>3,049.4</td><td>25.7%</td></tr><tr><td>Total excluding A&E</td><td>4,954.3</td><td>6,481.0</td><td>11,435.3</td><td>96.2%</td></tr><tr><td>A&E</td><td>306.0</td><td>143.0</td><td>449.0</td><td>3.8%</td></tr><tr><td>Total including A&E</td><td>$5,260.4</td><td>$6,623.9</td><td>$11,884.3</td><td>100.0%</td></tr><tr><td>(Some amounts may not reconcile due to rounding.)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>

Question: In which section the sum of U.S. Reinsurance has the highest value?
Answer: IBNR Reserves