[Symmetry]

If the quantities of Lithium need are going to keep going up its better that speculators big up the prices to high levels now than that manufacturers bid up the levels to crazy high later. High prices get people who don't need as much of it to start economizing and let producers expand production to levels they'll need.

People have, from time to time, experimented with banning speculation in commodities like onions in the US. And the wholesale prices of onions are much more volatile than other vegetables as a result. Sometimes commodity traders cause wild price swings and usually lose tons of money with stupid speculation, but more often they act to smooth things out.