Helium prices surge after Qatar LNG halt
Global helium prices are spiking following a halt at a Qatar LNG facility, exposing tight supply in a gas critical to tech and medical sectors — the disruption highlights single-point vulnerabilities in rare-gas supply chains reported. The move raises immediate cost and sourcing risks for manufacturers that rely on helium.
Ras Laffan’s LNG complex went offline on March 2 after drone strikes, and QatarEnergy [declared force majeure]tomshardware.com on affected shipments within days. The outage removes roughly one-fifth of global LNG export capacity [according to Bloomberg]bloomberg.com and has taken about one-third of world helium production off the market [Chemical & Engineering News reported]cen.acs.org. Helium spot prices have doubled since the Middle East crisis began, [Phil Kornbluth of Kornbluth Helium Consulting said]sahmcapital.com, while market analysts estimate a 30‑day disruption could lift delivered prices 10–20% and a 60–90‑day outage could push them 25–50%.gasprocessingnews.com Major industrial‑gas buyers including Air Liquide, Linde and Air Products have been flagged as exposed to the squeeze [Gas Processing News/Reuters reporting]gasprocessingnews.com, even as long‑term supply deals inked in 2025 with QatarEnergy — notably Messer’s SPA and Uniper’s agreement — complicate short‑term reallocation.newsroom.messergroup.com
