Albemarle Corp, the world’s largest lithium producer, posted a...

Albemarle Corp, the world’s largest lithium producer, posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday and gave a bullish 2019 outlook, saying it sees nothing that could slow demand for the white metal used to make electric car batteries.

The forecast for sales growth of up to 14 percent this year comes as anxiety grows among some investors that the race to supply lithium for batteries and other materials could flood the market, hurting profits by decreasing prices.But the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company in a news release said it is “not forecasting any significant macroeconomic headwinds and have not seen any decline in our customer demand forecasts.”Lithium sales rose 18 percent to $341.6 million during the quarter on both higher volume and prices that were up 4 percent from a year ago, the company said.