ALBEMARLE CORP (ALB)

Albemarle Corporation is a specialty chemicals company that describes itself as a world leader in transforming essential resources into critical ingredients for mobility, energy, connectivity, and health. It was incorporated in Virginia in 1993 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company and its joint ventures operate more than 25 production and research and development facilities worldwide, along with administrative and sales offices. It relies on proprietary process chemistry and R&D, and owned more than 1,500 active patents as of December 31, 2025.

During 2025 Albemarle reported three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. Energy Storage develops and manufactures basic lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and lithium chloride. Specialties combines bromine and highly specialized lithium products. These include fire safety compounds, elemental bromine, alkyl bromides, inorganic bromides, butyllithium, lithium aluminum hydride, and cesium, zirconium, barium and titanium products. Ketjen offers clean fuels technologies (hydroprocessing, isomerization and alkylation catalysts), fluidized catalytic cracking catalysts and additives, and performance catalyst solutions (organometallics and curatives). In October 2025 the company agreed to divest the controlling interest in Ketjen's Refining Solutions business and contribute the remainder to a new partnership, Holdco, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026. It sold its 50% interest in Eurecat S.A. in January 2026. It will retain the PCS business and a 49% interest in Holdco.

As of December 31, 2025, Albemarle served about 1,900 customers in about 70 countries. End markets include grid storage, automotive, aerospace, conventional energy, electronics, construction, agriculture and food, and pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Lithium goes into batteries for electronics and electric vehicles, grids, solar panels, greases and specialty glass. Bromine and lithium specialties serve electronics, vehicles, pharmaceutical synthesis, and food and water safety. Ketjen catalysts serve oil refiners and polymer and resin producers. Sales rely on a strategic account program for large global customers, regional sales and technical staff, and sales representatives where needed. The company had about 7,800 employees at year-end 2025.

For lithium, Albemarle buys concentrate from its 49%-owned Windfield joint venture (owner of Talison and the Greenbushes mine) and its 50%-owned MARBL joint venture (Wodgina mine) in Western Australia. It also produces lithium by solar evaporation at the Salar de Atacama in Chile and at Silver Peak, Nevada, and holds mineral rights in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and land in Antofalla, Argentina. Bromine comes from Arkansas and, through the 50%-owned Jordan Bromine Company, from the Dead Sea. Ketjen raw materials such as sodium silicate, kaolin, aluminum and metals are bought from numerous suppliers. Competitors in lithium include SQM, Sichuan Tianqi, Ganfeng, Rio Tinto, Pilbara Minerals and Tesla. In Specialties they include Lanxess, Israel Chemicals and Rio Tinto, and in Ketjen they include Shell Catalysts & Technologies, Advanced Refining Technologies, Haldor Topsoe, W.R. Grace, BASF, Nouryon and Arxada. The business is subject to chemical and environmental regulation such as REACH and TSCA.