IMO the answer can be found by looking at how LTHM (Livent Corp)...

IMO the answer can be found by looking at how LTHM (Livent Corp) conducts its business






As ORE (and JV partner TTC) "upgrade" their customer base, they will move away from Spot Pricing.

To quote LTHM CEO when questioned on "contract structure & pricing"

"In 2018, we expect that about 60% of our revenue will be generated from customers with whom we have contracts ranging from two to five years in length. Approximately 85% of our revenue comes from customers with whom we’ve been a trusted partner for 10 years or longer. Even the newer developing relationships typically begin two to three years before meaningful revenue is realized.We expect that our portion of revenue under multi-year contracts will grow as we continue to expand our sales of battery qualified lithium hydroxide.

Volume for these contracts is generally defined in one of two ways. We establish a take or pay firm volume. This approach is for customers who are known to have demand in excess of the defined volume

For customers who still have some ramp up risk or risk in terms of how quickly they can get their own production qualified with their customers, we define the volume as a percentage of demand.

The latter approach allows us to manage a portfolio of customer demand increases that will progress in some cases faster and in some cases slower than customers themselves project.

Maximum annual volumes are defined with an understanding that we will establish additional contracts as customers prove their ramp up rate. Livent has customers already that have multiple ‘layered’ contracts for this reason.

With respect to pricing, we either agree to a firm price for each contract year or we agree to a maximum and minimum price with economics that are acceptable to both Livent and its customer. In the latter case, we adjust contract pricing within that range one time per year, typically near year end.

Employing this type of contract structure is a clear investment in our customers. We commit capacity to our customers and take great care in how we manage that portfolio as the value chain evolves. We invest our time and focus on those relationships while continuously evaluating new ones, not the other way around. In exchange we get consistent pricing and volume commitments that both Livent and its customers can use to plan their continued growth."

Is the BG Li2CO3 or LIOH ORE is supplying a "specialty chemical" or a "commodity. Benchmark pricing is to a commodity. Contract pricing is more for specialty products. Supplying technical grade products put you are the low end. BG at the high end.

Definitely takes ORE in the right direction.

GLTA