US-Iran Conflict has Pushed Up Chinese Helium Prices ~10x Since Jan’26

Jun 1
1 min read

Updated: Jun 8

China is the world's second-largest helium consumer but has concentrated supply sources: in 2025 Qatar and Russia supplied 55% and 44% of imports respectively, and both have now been disrupted simultaneously due to the US-Iran conflict and then the Russian export controls. Domestic output is constrained by poor resource endowment, with 2025 capacity utilisation below 40% with an estimated production of ~195mmcf (AKAP estimate), pushing inventories into accelerated destocking.

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