Iofina winds back production predictions but hails quarterly progress

Iofina PLC on Friday guided for lower second-half production than previously anticipated after "many factors" caused delays, but said it made "substantial progress" during the third quarter.

Shares in Iofina were 12% lower at 48.50 pence late on Friday morning in London.

Also, the London-based iodine producer announced the commissioning of IO#12 IOsorb, which it said is its largest-capacity plant to date. The plant is also "the first-ever commercial-scale iodine production facility in the Permian Basin."

"The new plant is undergoing hydrotesting, and brine water is now flowing through its system, with production expected to begin and ramp up over the coming weeks," the company said.

Iofina said it anticipates annual production of between 170 metric tonnes and 220MT of crystalline iodine.

On a group-wide basis, meanwhile, Iofina said it "made significant progress in executing its growth strategy" in the third quarter of 2026.

This included completing an additional brine supply pipeline at IO#11, and agreements to start builds for IO#13 and IO#14.

The company said Iofina Resources produced 205.2MT of crystalline iodine during the three-month period, down from 215.8MT the previous year.

This was lower than it had anticipated due to its plants' total water volumes being below expectations, as well as maintenance work and delays to the IO#11 pipeline's completion and IO#12 being commissioned.

"Suppliers to plants in our central Oklahoma core area have implemented new upgrades which initially required certain disposal wells to be shut down while performing this work," Iofina said. "The company believes this is just a timing of many factors, and we can confirm that water volumes have improved as we collectively work back to the brine flows to previous levels."

Iofina said it now expects production in the second half to be closer to between 440MT and 455MT, although "this remains dependent on water supply returning to anticipated levels...as well as IO#12's contribution."

This would be up from the "record" 437.6MT that Iofina previously reported for the second half of 2025. However, when reporting its first-half results in September, Iofina had reiterated a forecast of between 460MT and 485 MT.

"In the period, Iofina has made substantial progress in executing its growth strategy...we are executing on the expansion of our production capacity needed to expedite our growth," Chief Executive Officer Tom Becker commented.

He continued: "Whilst production in the period was lower than anticipated, we are encouraged by the positive adjustments made by our water supply partners...The strong profitability achieved in H1 2026 demonstrates the earnings potential of our business.

"With iodine prices remaining firm and demand robust, we are expanding production capacity at an opportune time.

"As these additional plants come online, we expect to accelerate production growth towards [our target of] 2000MT, strengthen profitability and deliver increasing value for shareholders."

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