In the first quarter, the company recorded more than $90 million in "restructuring and productivity cost savings," putting it on track to realize $280 million in productivity benefits over the course of the year. The American mining company extracts lithium in northern Chile.
Albemarle, the world's largest producer of lithium for electric vehicle batteries, missed first-quarter profit estimates on Wednesday due to lower lithium prices.
Weakening demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has brought down global lithium prices, hurting lithium producers like Albemarle. Many producers around the world have cut production and reduced their workforce.
Lithium prices had fallen more than 80% in the year to March, according to a basket tracked by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
Albemarle's largest segment, which focuses on products and technologies that enable the development and production of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, posted quarterly adjusted core profit of $198 million, compared with $198 million. 1,570 million from the same period of the previous year.
Unit prices fell by 89%.
Overall, Albemarle posted revenue of $1.36 billion in the January-March period, down 47% from a year earlier and slightly better than an analyst estimate of $1.319 billion, according to LSEG data.
However, the company reported an adjusted profit of 26 cents per share, missing analysts' average estimate of 27 cents per share.
Albemarle said that in the first quarter the company recorded more than $90 million in "restructuring and productivity cost savings," putting it on track to realize $280 million in productivity benefits over the course of the year.
He did not detail what the cost-cutting measures included in the first quarter.
"Our team demonstrated agility in dynamic market conditions by continuing to generate strong volumetric growth, expanding new converting facilities and executing cost reductions and productivity improvements," said Kent Masters, CEO of the North Carolina-based company. it's a statement.
In January, the company said it would cut jobs and defer spending on a refinery project in the United States as part of a wide-ranging plan to save $750 million in cash flow.
Executives plan to hold a conference call on Thursday to discuss the results and outlook.
