Inventories:

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



	December 31,
	2017		2016
Finished goods^(a)	$	404,239	$	289,102
Raw materials and work in process^(b)	132,891		109,706
Stores, supplies and other	55,651		51,455
Total^(c)	$	592,781	$	450,263


(a)	Increase primarily due to the Jiangli New Materials acquisition and the build up of inventory at other Lithium sites for an increase in sales in 2018.


(b)	Included $59.6 million and $47.1 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, of work in process related to the Lithium product category.


(c)	As of December 31, 2017, $24.7 million of Inventories were classified as Assets held for sale in the consolidated balance sheets. See Note 3, “Divestitures,” for additional information.

Approximately 17% and 19% of our inventories are valued using the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The portion of our domestic inventories stated on the LIFO basis amounted to $99.6 million and $87.5 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, which are below replacement cost by approximately $33.1 million and $33.8 million, respectively.