Last time I looked that appeared to be the case. Lithium is extracted[1] from primary sources. The rub then is that supply is limited by low historical demand and can be fixed by tapping other sources. The supply demand curve is thus just steep in the short term.

Cobalt is mostly a by-product of copper mining. Being a by-product means it's highly supply constrained. So the supply demand curve is very steep over the short, medium and long term.

[1] Leached from salt deposits or extracted from saline water sources.