Albemarle is idling Train 1 at their Kemerton lithium plant in Western Australia effectively immediately. They already put Train 2 on hold in 2024 and stopped expansion plans. The company says high costs and weak lithium prices are the main reasons for the shutdown. They expect this to improve margins by Q2 2026 and don't see it impacting sales volumes. Mining operations at Greenbushes remain active. The article notes the stock is up significantly over the past year and Zacks currently rates it a strong buy alongside miners like Coeur Mining and Fortuna.