Potassium nitrite Price Chart & Market Analysis 2026

Potassium nitrite Price Information Spec: China national standards

Newest Price 232.5

Price Date 20210323

Day's Change -37.5

Day's Range 232.5 - 195

Month's Change 0

Month's Range 0 - 0

Year's Change 0

Year's Range 0 - 0

Opinions

What drives demand for potassium nitrite across food, agricultural, industrial and medical grades?

Watch the grade split rather than total volume. Food-grade nitrite is capped by residue rules, so headline growth will not come from meat curing. The real swing factor is industrial and analytical offtake, which follows downstream chemical and pharmaceutical production cycles. Suppliers with flexible lines that can switch between technical and food grades will capture more margin than single-grade producers when one segment softens.

Why does potassium nitrite carry acute toxicity risk while having no cumulative effect in the body?

Buyers should treat this as a handling and documentation issue, not just a purity spec. Because the powder mimics salt, downstream users increasingly ask suppliers for clear hazard labeling, sealed packaging and batch-level assay certificates. For potassium nitrite specifically, food-grade volumes stay small and tightly regulated, so most commercial tonnage moves into industrial and analytical applications where traceability matters more than headline price.

Overview

Potassium nitrite (KNO₂, CAS 7758-09-0) is a white to yellowish crystalline powder, soluble in water and alcohol, with a melting point of 350°C (decomposes) and a density of 1.92 g/cm³. It functions primarily as a color-fixing agent and preservative in cured meat products.

Food: acts as a color fixative and preservative in processed meats like ham, sausage, and bacon, giving them a pink color and inhibiting microbial growth, especially Clostridium botulinum.
Industrial: used in chemical synthesis and as a corrosion inhibitor in various industrial processes.
Agricultural: applied in fertilizer formulations as a nitrogen source.
Pharmaceutical: used in certain medical applications, though less common than sodium nitrite.

China's production landscape includes food, industrial, and agricultural grades, with food-grade material subject to strict national standards (GB 2760-2014) limiting residual levels in meat products. Domestic supply generally meets demand, with market reports indicating ongoing capacity expansion and a focus on quality differentiation between grades.

Key domestic producers:
Shida Shenghua – food and pharmaceutical grade.
Haike Xinyuan – pharmaceutical excipient grade.
Wanhua Chemical (Penglai) – planning to convert a DMC unit to produce propylene glycol.
Weiyuan Co. – active in new materials and energy-related operations.

Properties

Name

Potassium nitrite

CCRIS 3959

EPA Pesticide Chemical Code 076203

HSDB 1216

Nitrous acid, potassium salt

CAS Number

7758-09-0

EINECS No.

231-832-4

Risk Codes

S45;S61

Safety Description

R8;R25;R50

HS Code

2834290000

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Potassium nitrite Price Information Spec: China national standards

Opinions

What drives demand for potassium nitrite across food, agricultural, industrial and medical grades?

Why does potassium nitrite carry acute toxicity risk while having no cumulative effect in the body?

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