(Yicai) Aug. 24 -- Low sodium and non-iodized salt are now listed as ‘unavailable’ or ‘waiting for more product’ on many Chinese e-commerce platforms as people rush to stock up after Japan started to discharge waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea today.

China has strict standards on food safety, and the country can produce enough salt to meet demand, said Wang Xiaoqing, executive director of the China Salt Association.

Sea salt accounts for 22 percent of the cooking salt sold in China, Wang said. The other types of salt used to produce cooking salt are brine well salt and lake salt which make up 61 percent and 17 percent respectively.

The surge in demand pushed up the price of salt producers today. Jiangxi Salt Industry Group’s share price [SHA:601065] surged 10 percent to finish at CNY17.26 (USD2.40) apiece, Jiangsu Suyan Jingshen [SHA:603299] ended the day up 4.3 percent at CNY11.52 and Snowsky Salt Industry Group [SHA:600929] closed up 2.3 percent at CNY8.29.

China will suspend the import of all edible aquatic products from Japan from today to ensure food safety and protect people’s health now that Japan has started to release nuclear waste water into the Pacific Ocean, the General Administration of Customs of China said today.

Editor: Kim Taylor