Albemarle Buys Battery-Grade Lithium Supplier for $200M

Specialty chemicals player Albemarle Corp. said Tuesday that its subsidiary, Albemarle Lithium UK Ltd., closed a $200 million deal to acquire Chinese battery-grade lithium supplier Guangxi Tianyuan New Energy Materials Co. Ltd.

“The addition of Tianyuan’s operations to Albemarle’s high-quality lithium assets strengthens our ability to reliably meet the increasing global demand for battery-grade lithium,” Albemarle’s chief executive officer Kent Masters said in a company release. “We welcome the Tianyuan team’s support as we help our customers and the world transition to more sustainable energy use.”

Tianyuan currently operates a lithium conversion plant at the Port of Qinzhou in China that was designed with an annual conversion capacity of up to 25,000 mt LCE. The location produces battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide.

Albemarle signed a definitive agreement to purchase the business in 2021.

The company inaugurated a new lithium conversion plant, La Negra III/IV, in Antofagasta, Chile this June, Powder & Bulk Solids reported. $500 million was invested in the project to double the firm’s capacity for lithium amid rising demand.