Inventories:

The following table provides a breakdown of inventories at December 31, 2018 and 2017 (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2018		2017
Finished goods^(a)	$	482,355	$	404,239
Raw materials and work in process^(b)	158,290		132,891
Stores, supplies and other	59,895		55,651
Total^(c)	$	700,540	$	592,781


(a)	Increase primarily due to the build-up of inventory in our Lithium segment for a forecasted increase in sales in 2019.


(b)	Included $71.4 million and $59.6 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, of work in process related to lithium brine.


(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 10% and 17% of our inventories are valued using the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The portion of our domestic inventories stated on the LIFO basis amounted to $69.2 million and $99.6 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, which are below replacement cost by approximately $32.8 million and $33.1 million, respectively.