Basis of Presentation:

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Albemarle Corporation and our wholly-owned, majority-owned and controlled subsidiaries (collectively, “Albemarle,” “we,” “us,” “our” or “the Company”) contain all adjustments necessary for a fair statement, in all material respects, of our condensed consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, our consolidated statements of income and consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 and our consolidated statements of changes in equity and condensed consolidated statements of cash flows for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2018 and 2017. All adjustments are of a normal and recurring nature. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 28, 2018. The December 31, 2017 condensed consolidated balance sheet data herein was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) in the United States (“U.S.”). The results of operations for the three-month and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. Certain reclassifications have been made to the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto to conform to the current presentation.

Effective January 1, 2018, we adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” and all related amendments using the modified retrospective method. There was no material impact to our results of operations or financial position upon adoption, and no adjustment was made to Retained earnings in our consolidated balance sheets because such adjustment was determined to be immaterial. In addition, new presentation requirements, including separate disclosure of net sales from sources other than customers on our consolidated statements of income and separate disclosures of contract assets or liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets, generally did not have a material impact. However, business circumstances, including the nature of customer contracts, can change and as such, we are expanding processes and controls to recognize such changes, and as necessary, consider whether any of these currently immaterial items might differ in the future. See Note 17, “Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements,” for additional information.

Included in Trade accounts receivable at September 30, 2018 is approximately $538.4 million arising from contracts with customers. The remaining balance of Trade accounts receivable at September 30, 2018 primarily includes value-added taxes collected from customers on behalf of various taxing authorities. In addition, see below for a description of our updated revenue recognition accounting policy.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration we expect to receive in exchange for transferring goods or providing services, and is recognized when performance obligations are satisfied under the terms of contracts with our customers. A performance obligation is deemed to be satisfied when control of the product or service is transferred to our customer. The transaction price of a contract, or the amount we expect to receive upon satisfaction of all performance obligations, is determined by reference to the contract’s terms and includes adjustments, if applicable, for any variable consideration, such as customer rebates, noncash consideration or consideration payable to the customer, although these adjustments are generally not material. Where a contract contains more than one distinct performance obligation, the transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation based on the standalone selling price of each performance obligation, although these situations do not occur frequently and are generally not built into our contracts. Any unsatisfied performance obligations are not material. Standalone selling prices are based on prices we charge to our customers, which in some cases is based on established market prices. Sales and other similar taxes collected from customers on behalf of third parties are excluded from revenue. Our payment terms are generally between 30 to 90 days, however, they vary by market factors, such as customer size, creditworthiness, geography and competitive environment.

All of our revenue is derived from contracts with customers, and almost all of our contracts with customers contain one performance obligation for the transfer of goods where such performance obligation is satisfied at a point in time. Control of a product is deemed to be transferred to the customer upon shipment or delivery. Significant portions of our sales are sold free on board shipping point or on an equivalent basis, while delivery terms of other transactions are based upon specific contractual arrangements. Our standard terms of delivery are generally included in our contracts of sale, order confirmation documents and invoices, while the timing between shipment and delivery generally ranges between 1 and 45 days. Costs for shipping and handling activities, whether performed before or after the customer obtains control of the goods, are accounted for as fulfillment costs.

The Company currently utilizes the following practical expedients, as permitted by Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers:


•	All sales and other pass-through taxes are excluded from contract value;


•	In utilizing the modified retrospective transition method, no adjustment would be necessary for contracts that do not cross over a reporting year;


•	We will not consider the possibility of a contract having a significant financing component (which would effectively attribute a portion of the sales price to interest income) unless, if at contract inception, the expected payment terms (from time of delivery or other relevant criterion) are more than one year;


•	If our right to customer payment is directly related to the value of our completed performance, we recognize revenue consistent with the invoicing right; and


•	We expense as incurred all costs of obtaining a contract incremental to any costs/compensation attributable to individual product sales/shipments for contracts where the amortization period for such costs would otherwise be one year or less.

Certain products we produce are made to our customer’s specifications where such products have no alternative use or would need significant rework costs in order to be sold to another customer. In management’s judgment, control of these arrangements is transferred to the customer at a point in time (upon shipment or delivery) and not over the time they are produced. Therefore revenue is recognized upon shipment or delivery of these products.

Costs incurred to obtain contracts with customers are not significant and are expensed immediately as the amortization period would be one year or less. When the Company incurs pre-production or other fulfillment costs in connection with an existing or specific anticipated contract and such costs are recoverable through margin or explicitly reimbursable, such costs are capitalized and amortized to Cost of goods sold on a systematic basis that is consistent with the pattern of transfer to the customer of the goods or services to which the asset relates, which is less than one year. We record bad debt expense in specific situations when we determine the customer is unable to meet its financial obligation.