Yes and No, most Lithium/Spod is purchased on long term...

Yes and No, most Lithium/Spod is purchased on long term contracts with a lot of different pricing mechanisms, I can't imagine large Automotive customers risking supply without long term contracts, it's also hard for converters to change suppliers as this is a chemical game with a long qualification time with offtake partners, quite different to other commodities.

The easiest way to keep track of pricing is reading what prices the big players are selling for in their reports, keeping note of what quality they are selling (just like how I/O has different blends and pricing).

In this current market it's going to be very hard for new players to get funding, thus those already in production have a great advantage. Think of the time it takes any new player to build a plant and commission it.

All IMO DYOR.