Albemarle Corporation

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a US specialty chemicals group headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and ranks among the world's largest producers of lithium and lithium compounds. The company produces lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide as base materials for lithium-ion batteries as well as battery products such as lithium sulfide and lithium bis(oxalato)borate, organolithium compounds such as butyllithium, and further salts, metals and metal hydrides. In the Bromine Specialties segment, elemental bromine, hydrobromic acid, bromides and bromine-based flame retardants are produced. The business segments comprise Lithium (Energy Storage) and Specialties for applications in mobility, energy storage, electronics, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and construction. In Germany, Albemarle operates sites in Langelsheim (Lower Saxony) and Frankfurt am Main, which joined the group in 2015 through the acquisition of Rockwood Holdings. The Langelsheim plant traces back to the Hans-Heinrich-Hütte and belonged to Metallgesellschaft for several decades. With around 7,800 employees, Albemarle supplies approximately 70 countries worldwide.

Site

Charlotte, NC, USA

Processes

Direct Lithium Extraction, Manufacture of specialty chemicals (lithium, bromine, catalysts)

Materials

Lithium carbonate, Lithium hydroxide, Lithium sulfide, Lithium bis(oxalato)borate, Butyllithium, Bromine and hydrobromic acid, Bromine-based flame retardants, Refinery catalysts (FCC/HPC)

Founded

1887

Employees

~7,800

Industries

Mobility/Electromobility, Energy storage/Grid storage, Aerospace, Electronics, Agriculture/Food, Health/Pharmaceuticals

1. 01

   Raw material extraction (lithium salts from own mines, bromine)

2. 02

   Chemical processing and refining

3. 03

   Manufacture of specialty chemicals and lithium compounds

4. 04

   Distribution to approximately 70 countries

Products and Chemicals

Locations

Products and Applications

Inside the production

History

1. 1887

   Founded as Albemarle Paper Manufacturing Company in Richmond, Virginia

2. 1962

   Acquisition of the larger Ethyl Corporation; renamed Ethyl Corporation

3. 1969

   Start of bromine operations in Magnolia, Arkansas

4. 1976

   Sale of the paper businesses, focus on specialty chemicals

5. 1994

   Spin-off of the chemical businesses from Ethyl Corporation; since February 1994 again Albemarle Corporation

6. 1998

   Acquisition of a custom manufacturing facility in Teesport, England; JV with Jordan Dead Sea Industries and Arab Potash

7. 2004

   Acquisition of the refinery catalyst platform from AkzoNobel for EUR 615.7 million

8. 2008

   Relocation of corporate headquarters from Richmond to Baton Rouge, Louisiana

9. 2015

   Acquisition of Rockwood Holdings for USD 6.2 billion; the Langelsheim and Frankfurt am Main sites join Albemarle

10. 2015

    Announcement of the relocation of headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina

11. 2016

    Sale of Chemetall Surface Treatment to BASF for USD 3.2 billion

12. 2017

    Acquisition of the lithium business of Jiangli New Materials for USD 145 million

13. 2019

    Lithium joint venture with Mineral Resources

14. 2021

    Sale of the Fine Chemistry Services business to W. R. Grace for approximately USD 570 million

15. 2023

    Launch of the Ketjen subsidiary for catalyst solutions

16. 2026

    Sale of the majority stake in the Ketjen refinery catalyst business to KPS Capital Partners (completed March 2, 2026)