Inventories

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Inventory Disclosure [Abstract]

Inventories

Inventories:

The following table provides a breakdown of inventories at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 (in thousands):

	March 31,		December 31,
	2024		2023
Finished goods	$	1,349,770	$	1,624,893
Raw materials and work in process(a)	414,204		401,050
Stores, supplies and other	140,853		135,344
Total(b)	$	1,904,827	$	2,161,287

(a)Includes $241.0 million and $213.4 million at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, 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.

The Company purchases certain of its inventory from its equity method investments (primarily the Windfield Holdings Pty. Ltd. (“Windfield”) joint venture) and eliminates the balance of intra-entity profits on purchases of such inventory 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 $408.5 million and $559.6 million at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, 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.