Around 250 South West locals are out of a job with Albemarle’s announcement to mothball Kemerton plan

Around 250 South West locals will be out of a job with Albemarle announcing plans last week to mothball its Kemerton plant. The US mining giant pointed to distorted minerals markets, high energy prices and delays to tax credits for its decision to abandon lithium refining in WA despite a recent rebound in lithium prices. Announcing the closure on Thursday, Albemarle chief executive Kent Masters said the rebound was still not enough to cover the higher cost of producing hydroxide in WA, even with government assistance. The slower uptake of electric vehicles has also been cited as a contributing factor. It is understood staff first found out via a press release that the final processing train at the Kemerton refinery had been put into care and maintenance, effective immediately. The refinery converts spodumene concentrate from the Greenbushes hard rock mine into lithium hydroxide. “Idling operations at Kemerton was a difficult decision,” Mr Masters said. “It follows significant actions we have taken over the past two-and-a-half years to reduce operating costs during an extended period of price volatility in the market.” WA Premier Roger Cook — who earlier last week was touting the success of Collie’s big battery — defended his Government’s support for the mining sector after the announcement, saying they have “done what we can” and telling trading partners to “step up”. Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said the decision to shutter the last lithium hydroxide processing train at Kemerton was a “blow for workers” and “disappointing news”. “The difficult decision taken by Albemarle reflects a simple reality that it can be an immense challenge for projects to compete in global supply chains that are concentrated, opaque and subject to market distortion,” Ms King said. “It is for this reason that the Australian Government — alongside partners such as the US, UK, EU, Japan, Korea, Canada and others — is actively working together to help build out alternate global critical minerals supply chains.” Bunbury Geographe Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Sean McKeown said the closure was a blow that could have a major impact on the local economy. “If you lose your job, and you can’t get another job locally with your skills, you may have to leave — that’s a loss of skills for South West,” he said. “We talk about the future of the South West and the skills needed to progress its future, the people who are skilled are integral part of that and losing them is never a good thing.” Mr McKeown said the chamber would put together an event where redundant Kemerton employees could meet with prospective employers in the region. Shadow energy minister Steve Thomas said current market conditions were the clear reason for the closure. “It comes as no surprise that operations in Kemerton refinery are stopping but I want to express my sympathies to the workers and their families who are affected by this closure — I am sure this is not how they wanted to start 2026,” he said. “I hope that a correction to the lithium market and stable energy prices will one day see lithium hydroxide being produced in Kemerton in the future. In the meantime, I wish the best to the workers in this time of trial and uncertainty.” Member for Vasse Libby Mettam said the Government had fallen short on supporting industry in the area. “This is a terrible blow for the 250 West Australians who have lost their jobs and their families and we hope they can find alternative employment as soon as possible,” she said. Member for Forrest Ben Small said the toll redundancy would take on locals should not be taken lightly. “Each number represents a person, family or household that will lose a job and the security that provides amongst the ever-rising cost of living crisis,” he said. “When you jack up energy prices, when you drown business in red tape, locals pay with their jobs,” he said. Mr Small said he had liaised with Albemarle, which had committed to support impacted workers going forward. Opposition leaders raised concerns about the closure being a by-product of the Federal and State Government’s net-zero ambitions, but Bunbury MLA Don Punch pushed back on that. “Albemarle developed this plant when lithium hyroxide prices were high and were climbing, and continued to climb,” he said. “Then they went through a huge dip which saw them not proceed with trains two and three. “While lithium prices have increased, Albemarle want to see long term sustainable price, so that’s why they’ve put it into care and maintenance.” Mr Punch offered his support to those affected by the closure. “It’s a terrible thing to happen to them. It’s a really tough thing and my heart does go out to them,” he said. “I’ll always be watching out to make sure that they do receive their entitlements and we’d certainly support people in relation to looking at alternate options.”