US lithium giant Albemarle has slashed its Australian growth plans as part of a global austerity campaign, delivering a fresh blow to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s plan to foster more domestic processing of critical and battery minerals.

Plans to build a fourth, lithium hydroxide-processing train at Kemerton in Western Australia are now on the backburner, barely eight months after Albemarle said it would push ahead with plans to double its capacity to four trains from two trains.