Albemarle Announces Plans to Idle its Kemerton Lithium Hydroxide Processing Plant
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a global leader in providing essential elements for mobility, energy, connectivity and health, today announced it will idle the remaining operating train, Train 1, at its Kemerton lithium hydroxide processing plant in Western Australia and place it into care and maintenance effective immediately. Today’s announcement follows actions in 2024 to place Train 2 into care and maintenance and to cease expansion plans for Trains 3 and 4.
The Kemerton plant processes spodumene from the Greenbushes mine, one of the world’s best spodumene resources. Albemarle holds ownership interest and half of the offtake rights from Greenbushes through an Australian joint venture. Kemerton, with its proven technology and commercial scale lithium hydroxide production, was built to enable the development of a Western lithium supply chain.
Kent Masters, Albemarle Chairman and CEO, said:
Idling operations at Kemerton was a difficult decision.
” It follows significant actions we have taken over the past two and a half years to reduce operating costs during an extended period of price volatility in the market. Unfortunately, recent lithium price improvements alone are not enough to offset the challenges facing Western hard-rock lithium conversion operations. This decision improves our financial flexibility and preserves optionality.”
The decision is expected to be accretive to adjusted EBITDA beginning in the second quarter of 2026 with no impact to projected 2026 volumes. Albemarle will meet customer demand for lithium hydroxide through other production channels.
Albemarle’s mining interests in Australia, including its holdings in Greenbushes and Wodgina and its exploration interests in Western Australia, are not impacted by the Kemerton decision as they remain core components of the company’s strategy.
In a separate press release issued today, Albemarle shared its fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings results. The company will provide further details on its conference call to discuss its financial results at 8 a.m. EST on Thursday, February 12, 2026.
Access to the call is available via webcast or direct dial. A link to the webcast can be found through Albemarle Corporation’s website at http://investors.albemarle.com. Direct dial numbers are provided below.
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Albemarle Announces Plans to Idle its Kemerton Lithium Hydroxide Processing Plant, source
