RE: Inez - Hopefully by now31 May 2026 17:09
@blatav1 there you go, I can afford the subscription lol
Bo Sears, the boss of US helium producer Helix Exploration, also said that even if Hormuz reopened tomorrow, Qatar would still have to restart production, get ships to its Ras Laffan plant, then send them to their destinations.
“You’re still going to have about a four-month lag before you get helium to any meaningful end-user,” he said.
But Mr Sears said the worldwide scramble for supplies would hit “the balloon guys” hardest because bigger users would take precedence.
“The balloon guys are at the bottom of the totem pole. They don’t want to be there, but they’re deemed less important. They are hustling, trying to find helium,” he said.
Mr Oustayiannis added that the cost of helium had climbed only 5pc so far, because the big helium suppliers were still selling down stocks they accumulated last year.
He said that the helium industry goes through periodic shortages, but “this will be a tough one because there’s no clarity on when the tunnel ends”.
The balloon chief said previous shortages had “badly scarred” his sector and he was now changing designs to help cope with the shortage.
“We’ve taught our balloon decorators how to focus on air-filled designs, so they’re not suddenly crippled when helium is no longer available to them,” he said.
They may be forced to use alternatives for some time. Mr Sears said that even when Qatari supply returns, a surge in demand from soon-to-be heavily subsidised American chipmakers would prolong the shortage.
“With $50bn (£37bn) of US federal funds going to chip manufacturing and quantum computing, you’re going to have a demand shock, and there’s just not enough helium to supply that,” he warned.
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