Albemarle Corporation Announces New U.S. Lithium Mega-Flex Processing Facility in South Carolina

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Mar 22, 2023, 12:00 ET

Planned investment of at least $1.3 billion to help meet surging demand for electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a global leader in providing essential elements for mobility, energy, connectivity and health, today announced plans to locate its previously announced lithium hydroxide Mega-Flex facility in Chester County, South Carolina. Plans for the facility include an initial investment of at least $1.3 billion to help meet the surging demand for domestic and international electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries.

Q&A with Albemarle CEO Kent Masters on new U.S. lithium hydroxide processing facility in South Carolina

The term Mega-Flex refers to the facility's ability to process diverse lithium feedstock, including lithium from recycled batteries. Albemarle expects the facility to annually produce approximately 50,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide from multiple sources, with the potential to expand up to 100,000 metric tons. Production at the facility would support the manufacturing of an estimated 2.4 million electric vehicles annually. The site also supports the Inflation Reduction Act, a federal law enacted in 2022 to incentivize the localization of critical minerals in North America.

"This facility will help increase the production of U.S.-based lithium resources to fuel the clean energy revolution while bringing us closer to our customers as the supply chain is built out in North America," said Albemarle CEO Kent Masters. "This investment supports our long-term commitment to providing innovative products and solutions that enable a more resilient world. We look forward to partnering with the state of South Carolina on this important project."

Pending permitting approvals, the facility will be located within a nearly 800-acre parcel. Albemarle estimates the facility will create more than 300 new jobs with an average annual wage of approximately $93,000. In addition, the project would create more than 1,500 construction jobs.

To support the development of the new site, Albemarle is committed to advancing partnerships with the state, local communities, and educational institutions to build a talent pipeline and create advanced technology jobs to support the facility and the community. Additionally, the site will likely create new opportunities for suppliers and other businesses to locate nearby.

"Today's announcement is positively electric news for the Palmetto State," said South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster. "Albemarle's new facility will be transformative for our state, creating thousands of good-paying jobs in South Carolina, and help us further our goals of becoming an electric vehicle hub in the United States by being home to companies like Albemarle who are producing strategically critical material vital to the lithium-ion batteries that power everything from electric vehicles to medical devices. Advanced manufacturing has long been a part of our economic DNA in South Carolina, and we are proud of the progress we have made over the past three years in attracting businesses across the electric vehicle supply chain that represent the future of the United States economy and the environmental sustainability of the world."

Construction is expected to begin late in 2024.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global leader in transforming essential resources such as lithium and bromine into critical ingredients for mobility, energy, connectivity, and health. Together with our world-class resources, technical and process knowledge, and safety and sustainability performance, we partner with our customers to pioneer new ways to move, power, connect, and protect. We are committed to building a more resilient world where people and planet thrive. Learn more about Albemarle at www.albemarle.com and at @albemarlecorp on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

Albemarle regularly posts information to its website, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, non-GAAP reconciliations, SEC filings and other information regarding the company, its businesses and the markets it serves.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains statements concerning our expectations, anticipations, intentions, beliefs, or strategies regarding the future, which constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, which are based on assumptions that we have made as of the date hereof and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, conditions and events to differ materially from those anticipated, often contain words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "would," "will" and variations of such words and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding expected production capacity of the Mega-Flex plant, the number of jobs and economic opportunities it may create, the timing of its construction and becoming operational, and all other information relating to matters that are not historical facts. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the outlook expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement include, without limitation: changes in economic and business conditions; adverse changes in liquidity or financial or operating performance; changes in the demand for our products or the end-user markets in which our products are sold; fluctuations in lithium market pricing; changes in laws and government regulation; and the other factors detailed in the reports we file with the SEC, including those described under "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are available on the investor section of our website (investors.albemarle.com). These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to provide any revisions to any forward-looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.

SOURCE Albemarle Corporation