Iodine is a halogen commodity produced from two primary feedstock systems: caliche (sodium nitrate ore) deposits in Chile's Atacama Desert, and iodine-rich brines co-produced with natural gas and oil in Japan, the United States (Oklahoma), Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Russia. Global mine production excluding the U.S. (withheld) totaled approximately 33,000 metric tons in 2024e, led by Chile (22,000 t, ~67% of the ex-U.S. total) and Japan (9,300 t, ~28%). U.S. production from three Oklahoma brine companies was estimated to have grown from 2023; one company opened a seventh production plant in mid-2024 and contracted an eighth for 2025. China and Uzbekistan also produce crude iodine without official reporting. Three production geographies — Chilean nitrate mines, Japanese gas-field brines, and Oklahoma brine wells — supply the vast majority of global iodine.

The leading global applications of iodine, in descending order of quantity consumed (USGS MCS 2025), are: X-ray contrast media used in CT scanning and angiography, pharmaceuticals including antiseptics and thyroid medications, polarizing films for liquid crystal displays, iodophors as biocide and disinfectant carriers, animal feed supplements, and fluorochemical intermediates. No comparable substitutes exist for iodine in its principal nutritional, pharmaceutical, catalytic, and photographic applications. This diversity of high-value end uses with limited substitutability gives iodine a structurally stable demand profile. In the U.S., approximately 80% of iodine consumption goes to crude and inorganic compounds and 20% to organic compounds.

Iodine prices reflected the post-COVID demand cycle: average CIF import values rose from $31.57/kg in 2020 to $61.55/kg in 2023 as demand outpaced supply, then eased to $59.00/kg in 2024e. Industry spot prices averaged $71.48/kg in 2023 and $69/kg in the first nine months of 2024 — about 3% lower but still elevated relative to the 2020 base. Sales volumes increased in 2024 despite lower prices, signaling robust global demand. The U.S. sources 90% of its iodine imports from Chile and 9% from Japan; net import reliance was >50% in most years 2020-2024e. Japan holds the world's largest known iodine reserves (4,900,000 t, 79% of the world total of 6,200,000 t), far exceeding its current production base, because most Japanese brine-field resources remain unexploited. World resources are effectively unlimited on a geological basis — seawater contains an estimated 90 billion tons of iodine — but commercial production is restricted to economically concentrated, low-cost sources.