‘There’s a global supply crisis’: Helium shortage prompts call for more Canadian production

The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz is leading to a global helium shortage. CTV’s Austin Lee has more on the impact in Ottawa.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is not only impacting oil prices, the cost of helium is also surging as a global supply shortage deepens.

Qatar produces more than a third of the world’s supply of helium, making it the second-largest producer behind the United States.

However, the gas coming from Qatar comes through the Strait, impacting the availability of the gas.

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“There’s a global supply crisis in helium that’s been spurred by the Iranian conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has removed roughly one third of the world’s helium supply off the market since March,” said Richard Dunn, executive director of the Helium Developers Association of Canada.

“For the remaining suppliers, Russia and the U.S., there’s limited spare capacity so, there’s an issue with the supply of helium around the world.”

The shortage is forcing some businesses to adapt.

“Our supplier gave us a heads up about the situation with the war that is going on so we we’re like, ‘yeah of course we want to stock up on helium.’ Luckily, we managed to get our hands on some helium tanks. So far, we have enough supply to cover just the summer,” said Osama Altawil, who owns The Balloon Lady Ottawa with his wife.

“We bought about four times [more helium] than what we usually stock up,”

Altawil is not alone.

Another balloon business in the capital told CTV News Ottawa they’re paying about 20 per cent more for helium from their current supplier, but should they be forced to switch suppliers to secure helium in the future. The cost could double, or triple.

This is not the first time helium supply has faced constraints.

Russia is another major supplier of the gas, and when that country launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Altawil’s business was hit hard.

“We learned our lesson from the previous war in Russia, and it did impact our business big time,” he said.

“We just wanted to cover ourselves this time in case clients still persist and want to helium.”

Although many people think of party balloons when they hear the word ‘helium’, that industry makes up just a fraction of the market.

“Most people think of it from the novelty perspective, thinking about party balloons but, that’s a very limited amount of the use of helium. Probably less than 10 per cent at this point,” said Dunn.

“It’s used in a multitude of high-tech, very important applications to our way of life.”

Helium crucial for technology, medical imaging

Helium is used in the manufacturing of semiconductors, fibre optic technology, space exploration, and defence applications as well as being a key gas used for cooling and detecting leaks in nuclear operations.

It is also used for medical imaging operations for things like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Despite the shortage, Ontario’s Ministry of Health tells CTV News there are no concerns of shortages of helium for medical uses in the province.

“The Ministry of Health has not been notified of any impacts to patient care or hospital operations in Ontario related to helium supply constraints,” said a Ministry of Health spokesperson in a statement.

Still, Dunn says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is leaving some experts in medical and research fields concerned.

He says there are some short-term mitigation efforts to limit the impacts of supply constraints, but those efforts are only meant to last roughly three to four months.

Calls to increase domestic production

It has now been about three months since the Strait of Hormuz closed and calls to increase Canada’s domestic production are resurfacing.

“The supply crisis that we find ourselves in with the Straight of Hormuz is not an isolated event. This is the fifth global supply crisis in the last 20 years,” said Dunn.

“Limited suppliers, limited number of facilities [in areas that are] prone to geopolitical disruption. This is an ongoing issue. This is not the first one, and it won’t be the last.”

Canada produces just three per cent of the world’s helium, despite the country being what’s estimated to be the fifth largest helium resource.

The helium Canada does produce is sent to the U.S. to be processed and liquified for it to be useful.

“Canada needs to take advantage of its significant helium resource opportunity. Put the policies in place that will drive investment and spur opportunities, and in doing so, provide a line of sight to the installation of liquefaction facilities,” said Dunn.

“At that point, we will have created a secure helium supply chain for Canada and our allies.”

Saskatchewan is aware of the opportunities.

That province hopes to grow the sector from three per cent to 10 per cent of global production by 2030.

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