Inventories:

The following table provides a breakdown of inventories at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 (in thousands):



	September 30,		December 31,
	2017		2016
Finished goods^(a)	$	420,059	$	289,102
Raw materials and work in process^(b)	135,025		109,706
Stores, supplies and other	55,128		51,455
Total	$	610,212	$	450,263


(a)	Increase primarily due to the Jiangli New Materials acquisition and other lithium sites, as well as the build up of inventory in our Refining Solutions segment for an increase in sales in the fourth quarter.


(b)	Included $56.0 million and $47.1 million at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, of work in process related to the Lithium product category.