Inventories

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Inventory Disclosure [Abstract]

Inventories

Inventories:

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

	December 31,
	2024		2023
Finished goods	$	912,662	$	1,624,893
Raw materials and work in process(a)	429,080		401,050
Stores, supplies and other	160,789		135,344
Total(b)	$	1,502,531	$	2,161,287

(a)Included $290.6 million and $213.4 million at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, of work in process in our Energy Storage segment.

(b)As a result of the decline in lithium market pricing, the Company recorded charges in Cost of goods sold to reduce the value of certain finished goods and spodumene to their net realizable value. The balance of these inventory reserves totaled $104.0 million and $604.1 million at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Approximately 3% of our inventories are valued using the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method at both December 31, 2024 and 2023. The portion of our domestic inventories stated on the LIFO basis amounted to $44.5 million and $60.4 million at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, which are below replacement cost by approximately $67.1 million and $60.1 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 (loss) income. The balance of intra-entity profits on inventory purchased from equity method investments in Inventories totaled $66.8 million and $559.6 million at December 31, 2024 and 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 (loss) income.