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Albemarle cuts 300 jobs as lithium slump bites

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) has announced major operational changes at its Kemerton lithium hydroxide processing plant near Bunbury. The US-based company will halt construction of the third production train and place the second train into care and maintenance, focusing instead on optimizing output from the first train.

This decision is expected to result in approximately 300 job losses, with Albemarle retaining around 460 employees at the Kemerton facility. The company will also record an impairment on the asset ranging between US$900 million and US$1.1 billion, following a previous write-off of US$215 million earlier this year.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

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