Iodine: Correlation
Prices it moves with, and why
Iodine comes mainly from Chilean caliche ore, mined with nitrate salts, and from brines produced with natural gas in Japan and the United States. A few producers dominate, and demand from X-ray contrast media, LCD films and biocides sets contract prices.
No public price Iodine has no public monthly price series: Few producers selling on contracts; no public monthly price series.What its price moves with
In Japan and Oklahoma, iodine is extracted from brines that come up with natural gas or are pumped specifically for iodine. Gas field operations therefore set part of world supply, independent of iodine demand.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.Chilean caliche ore is mined for both iodine and sodium and potassium nitrates used as fertilisers. The same producers decide output of both, so nitrate markets and iodine supply are linked.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.Iodinated contrast agents for X-ray and CT scans are the largest and fastest-growing iodine use. Health care demand is steady and buyers are not price sensitive, which supports stable, high contract prices.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.Polarising films in LCD screens use iodine, linking demand to television, monitor and phone display output. The move to OLED screens, which need fewer polarisers, slowly reduces this outlet, while new display types and solar cell research add small new uses.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.Iodine and iodophors disinfect water, wounds and equipment, and iodised salt prevents deficiency. These uses are spread across many small buyers and grow with population rather than with the industrial cycle.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.How to read these numbers
Correlation of monthly changes (the number in the coloured pill) compares how much each price moved, month by month, since 2006 or the first month both series exist. It runs from −1 to +1: near +1 the two usually rise and fall in the same months, near 0 there is no link, and a negative number means they tend to move in opposite directions. Above 0.7 is strong, 0.4 to 0.7 moderate, 0.2 to 0.4 weak.
12-month changes compare year-on-year moves, which shows whether two prices share the same cycles even when the month-to-month noise differs.
Price function is a straight-line fit of the two prices on logarithmic scales: price ≈ k × (partner price)β. β is how much this price moves, in per cent, for a 1% move in the partner over the whole period, and R² is the share of the variation the fit explains. Two prices that both drift up with inflation can fit well without any real link, so read it together with the monthly correlation.
Lead or lag checks whether the monthly correlation is clearly higher when one price is shifted by 1 to 6 months.
Correlation is not cause. The reasons on each card explain the economic link; the numbers show how strongly it has shown up in prices. Proxy series are US producer price indexes or related prices and can blur the real link.
Data: World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), October 2026; US Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indexes, IMF primary commodity prices and US EIA prices via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, retrieved November 2026. Calculations by this site.