Inventories

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Inventories:

The following table provides a breakdown of inventories at December 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):


	December 31,
	2023		2022
Finished goods	$	1,624,893	$	1,679,473
Raw materials and work in process(a)	401,050		296,998
Stores, supplies and other	135,344		99,560
Total(b)	$	2,161,287	$	2,076,031

(a)Included $213.4 million and $133.2 million at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, of work in process in our Energy Storage segment.

(b)During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company recorded a $604.1 million charge in Cost of goods sold to reduce the value of certain spodumene and finished goods to their net realizable value following the decline in lithium market pricing at the end of the year.

Approximately 3% of our inventories are valued using the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method at both December 31, 2023 and 2022. The portion of our domestic inventories stated on the LIFO basis amounted to $60.4 million and $52.9 million at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, which are below replacement cost by approximately $60.1 million and $57.9 million, respectively.

The Company eliminates the balance of intra-entity profits on purchases of inventory from its equity method investments that remains unsold at the balance sheet in Inventories, specifically finished goods and equally reduces Equity in net income of unconsolidated investments (net of tax) on the consolidated statements of income. The balance of intra-entity profits on inventory purchased from equity method investments in Inventories totaled $559.6 million and $332.3 million at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The intra-entity profit is recognized in Equity in net income of unconsolidated investments (net of tax) in the period that converted inventory is sold to a third-party customer. In the same period, the intra-entity profit is also recognized as higher Cost of goods sold on the consolidated statements of income.