Panic buying of potassium iodide (KI) tablets amid the Japanese nuclear disaster has caused a spike the spot price of industrial iodine, market sources told
IM.
Iodine was quoted as selling for $40-50/kg, or even higher, compared with an average price this year of about $33/kg.
KI tablets disappeared off the shelves not only in Japan, but as far away as the USA and Europe, after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northern Honshu was hit by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami on 11 March.
The pills are used to reduce the ability of the thyroid gland to absorb and retain radioactive iodine, which has found its way into Japanese food and water supplies from Fukushima’s stricken reactors....