Balloon Gas Helium
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Due to a World Wide Helium shortage, both BOC and Air Products are experiencing increasing supply issues. Please contact us prior to ordering your Helium so we can give you accurate and up to date information on your delivery.
Important Balloon Gas Update:
As we move closer to what should be a high demand Balloon Gas period, there hasn't been any news releases from the major suppliers and we therefore believe the responsible course of action should be for all suppliers to focus on protecting professional retailers and decorators to minimise any adverse effect to their business.
To date, we have managed to supply every single one of our balloon gas customers with their requirements, but we are still very reluctant to open new accounts. It's imperative any balloon gas we currently have access to is allocated as fairly as possible. However, if you are an industry professional experiencing supply issues right now, providing you are able to collect from us here in Stevenage, we will look at ways of supporting you.
So, what's really happening right now and what’s the latest inside information?
Helium expert Phil Kornbluth told the GAWDA (Gases and Welders Distributors Association) 2019 Annual Convention that the current helium shortage should begin to ease late next year.
Kornbluth, is President of Kornbluth Helium Consulting and a member of the Gasworld Editorial Board. He said: “I’m pretty confident the worst is over of this shortage barring a major outage in Qatar, the worst of the shortage should be over and it’s about a 10% shortage right now. The helium shortage is going to last until the end of this year and through all or most of 2020. But it will be a lesser shortage".
We believe as stated before, the shortage should ease in 2020 due to projects in Arzew, Algeria, Gazprom’s Amur Project in Russia and Qatar.
Kornbluth added “The shortage could end sooner if we have a global recession. I do feel the worst is behind us. By the end of next year, I would say it will be a mild shortage, or tight balance. Long term is more positive. Over supply seems more likely than shortage after Gazprom enters the market. Gazprom has the potential to produce 7.9 bcf from the Power of Siberia Pipeline’s throughput. The world is not running out of helium – that’s not a solid argument".
What I found tremendously interesting is that Kornbluth also stressed that the shortage is not a result of increased demand, and said distributors should not worry about supplies ever running out, as helium demand now is lower than it was in 2011!
Kornbluth said. “What we saw after the last shortage in 2012 was at least 10% of the world’s helium demand went away. MRI industry put in recycling and MRI scanners have become a lot more efficient. There has been substitution in welding too. The shortage is not about demand growth”.
Here at GO International we will continue to keep you updated with any new information as and when we hear it, and continue to work diligently in supplying your needs during the current shortage and beyond. So if you want the latest factual no fluff news, make sure you like and follow our Facebook Page. and subscribe to our YouTube Channel.