Producer
Albemarle Corporation (Ketjen Catalysts)
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is the world's largest lithium producer (for EV batteries) AND a top-3 FCC catalyst maker via its Ketjen subsidiary (acquired from Akzo Nobel 2021). Ketjen produces FCC and hydroprocessing catalysts at Bayport, Texas and Amsterdam, Netherlands. Albemarle announced a strategic review of the Ketjen catalysts business (potential divestiture) given focus on lithium for EV transition — the same company supplying lithium to Ford, BMW, and Tesla also makes the zeolite catalysts refining jet fuel and gasoline. Counter-cyclical hedge: as EV demand rises (lithium up) and gasoline demand falls (FCC catalysts down), Albemarle's business mix naturally rebalances.
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Inputs supplied
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Goods downstream
5
Facilities
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Stories
What they make
3 inputs Albemarle Corporation (Ketjen Catalysts) supplies
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Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Albemarle Corporation (Ketjen Catalysts) makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
5 facilities
Albemarle (Ketjen) Catalysts — Amsterdam →
NLNorth Holland · manufacturing
Ketjen's European hydrotreating and FCC catalyst plant; serves European and global refinery customers.
Albemarle (Ketjen) Catalysts — La Porte, TX →
USTexas · manufacturing
Primary North American FCC and hydrotreating catalyst manufacturing; Albemarle acquired Ketjen from Akzo Nobel in 2021 for ~$416M.
Albemarle Baton Rouge Catalyst Plant →
USLouisiana · manufacturing
North American catalyst manufacturing facility (Ketjen division) producing hydrotreating catalysts including CoMo and NiMo formulations for refinery ULSD/ULSHO production. One of the top three global hydroprocessing catalyst suppliers.
Albemarle/Ketjen Bayport Texas Catalyst Plant →
USTexas · manufacturing
Albemarle/Ketjen FCC and hydroprocessing catalyst production at Bayport, Texas (La Porte/Pasadena area on Houston Ship Channel). Primary North American Ketjen manufacturing site. Source: https://www.ketjen.com/
Ketjen Amsterdam Catalyst Plant (Netherlands) →
NLNorth Holland · manufacturing
Original Ketjen Corporation manufacturing site in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Ketjen was founded in Amsterdam and acquired by Akzo Nobel before Albemarle's 2021 acquisition. Serves European and Asian FCC catalyst markets. Source: https://www.ketjen.com/
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Lithium (World #1 — EV Batteries)
55%Ketjen Catalysts (FCC + Hydrotreating)
20%Bromine Specialties
20%Refining Solutions (Lithium Transition Context)
5%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2023
Albemarle Corporation is simultaneously the world's largest lithium producer (supplying lithium hydroxide to EV battery makers including Panasonic/Tesla, Samsung SDI, and CATL) AND a top-3 FCC refinery catalyst supplier (through Ketjen, enabling the production of gasoline that powers internal combustion engine vehicles competing with those EVs). Albemarle's lithium goes into the batteries of Ford Lightning, BMW iX, and Tesla Model 3; Albemarle's Ketjen catalysts go into the refineries that produce the gasoline for the F-150, BMW 3-Series, and Toyota Camry. The energy transition is supposed to shift vehicle fleets from ICE to EV — and the company most positioned to benefit from this shift (lithium) is also structurally positioned to delay it (FCC catalysts enabling ICE fuel). Albemarle explicitly described this as a 'counter-cyclical natural hedge' in investor communications.
Albemarle Corporation ↗Capacity2023
Albemarle's bromine business operates brine wells in the Dead Sea region (Jordan/Israel) and El Dorado, Arkansas — making Albemarle one of the world's largest bromine producers alongside ICL and Lanxess. Bromine appears in applications that cross multiple supply chains: (1) electronics flame retardants — brominated compounds in PCB laminates retarding fire propagation in consumer electronics; (2) oilfield completion fluids — calcium bromide and zinc bromide as high-density clear brine for well completion in deepwater oil production; (3) pharmaceutical intermediates — bromine-containing building blocks for drug synthesis. Albemarle's bromine is inside your smartphone's fire protection, inside the oil well completion fluid producing the crude oil that becomes your gasoline, and inside pharmaceutical APIs. Same Dead Sea brine supply chain serving three completely unrelated industries from Albemarle's Arkansas and Jordan production facilities.
Albemarle Corporation ↗Origin2023
Albemarle Corporation was founded in 1887 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as the Albemarle Paper Manufacturing Company — originally making paper. Through the 20th century, Albemarle pivoted to specialty chemicals through acquisitions, including the purchase of Ethyl Corporation's specialty chemicals business in 1994 (which brought organometallics and flame retardants), and various bromine and lithium assets. The 2015 acquisition of Rockwood Holdings (for $6.2B) brought Albemarle into lithium via Rockwood's Chilean and Australian lithium mining operations — transforming what had been a specialty catalyst and bromine chemicals company into the world's dominant lithium producer. The 2021 acquisition of Ketjen (from Akzo Nobel, formerly Azco and Ketjenblack) added FCC and hydrotreating catalyst operations to the same company supplying lithium to the EV battery industry.
Albemarle Corporation ↗