Big Charlotte employer taps outsider as new CEO: ‘Confident he is the right leader’
Albemarle Corp., the Charlotte-based world’s largest lithium miner will have a new CEO next year.
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Ragnar “Rag” Udd will join Albemarle as president and CEO, effective Feb. 1, 2027, the specialty chemical manufacturer said Thursday. On Wednesday, Udd announced he was leaving his role as chief commercial officer at BHP of Australia. That company is the world’s largest mining company by market capitalization at $237.1 billion, and is a leading producer of iron ore, copper and metallurgical coal.
Albemarle chairman James O’Brien Steiner stated that the appointment follows a board succession planning process and that board members are “confident he is the right leader.”
“Rag brings extensive commercial and operational expertise in natural resources and has successfully led global commercial strategy and advanced disciplined growth across complex businesses,” Steiner said.
Current chairman and CEO Kent Masters, 65, will move into the role of executive chairman of the board. Masters has been Albemarle’s CEO since April 2020.
“I am proud of what we have achieved together, and I am confident now is the right time to transition the leadership to Rag, who is well positioned to lead Albemarle’s future,” Masters said in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with him to ensure a seamless transition.”
Masters joined the Albemarle’s board of directors in 2015 as part of Albemarle’s acquisition of Rockwood Holdings. He took the role of Albemarle’s lead independent director in 2018 until becoming CEO.
Albemarle is one of the Charlotte region’s bigger employers. As of Dec. 31, Albemarle had about 7,800 employees companywide, including about 2,000 locally.
In a statement, Udd, 54, expressed enthusiasm about joining Albemarle and leading its energy storage and specialties business segments alongside Masters and the executive team.
“After nearly three decades with BHP, I’ve made the decision to take up a new opportunity outside BHP,” Udd said on his LinkedIn page.
Udd has nearly 30 years of global resources experience across North and South America, Asia and Australia with BHP. His background at BHP also includes roles as president of Americas, leading copper and potash businesses.
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Udd, who was based in Singapore, has a background in operations, logistics, projects, infrastructure and technology, according to BHP.
He has a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering as well as master’s of engineering and master’s of business administration degrees.
The new leadership comes as Albemarle prepares to reopen a dormant 1,200-acre lithium mine outside of Charlotte, which recently completed the necessary federal permitting process.
The Kings Mountain mine in Cleveland County is about 30 miles west of Charlotte.
Dormant since the late 1980s, the site is one of the few places in the world where lithium mining is possible.
Large green areas in white pegmatite rock called spodumene are extracted to make lithium. Lithium is used in batteries to power electric vehicles, bikes and personal electronic devices.
In February, Albemarle completed removing 1.57 billion gallons of water from its open pit, a two-year process that treated and discharged accumulated rainwater.
Just two years ago, Albemarle outlined $750 million in cost-cutting measures including layoffs and project postponements amid plummeting EV sales. This year, the company is seeing a turnaround with a boost fueled by demand for lithium in energy storage for data centers handling AI.
Data center power storage requirements are significantly higher than those used by electric vehicles.
Albemarle reported net sales of $1.7 billion in the second quarter ending June 30, up 31% year-over-year.
“We continue to see resilient demand fundamentals across our core markets, including energy storage, electric vehicles, and semiconductors,” Master said.
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