Albemarle's quarterly profit nearly tripled after strong lithium battery sales

Albemarle Corp, the world's largest lithium batteries producer, said on Tuesday that the company's quarterly profit increased nearly two times as the sales price of lithium used to make electric car batteries soared. The world's largest lithium producer recently reported a second-quarter net profit of $302.5 million, or $2.73 per share. The company's profit for the same period in 2017 was $103.3 million, or $0.92 per share. Albemarle has raised its full-year revenue forecast to between $3.3 billion and $3.5 billion, up at least 7% from 2017.
In recent years, top lithium producers Albemarle and SQLM have signed agreements with the Chilean government to increase production of lithium-rich Salar de Atacama. The Atta Kama salt field, which accounts for most of the production of Chile, has most of the world's lithium reserves, part of the so-called "lithium triangle" in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.