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Giấy phép số 4978/GP-TTĐT do Sở Thông tin và Truyền thông Hà Nội cấp ngày 14 tháng 10 năm 2019 / Giấy phép SĐ, BS GP ICP số 2107/GP-TTĐT do Sở TTTT Hà Nội cấp ngày 13/7/2022.
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Helium is a gas with a particularly important role in the economy and national security. It is used in medical research, chip manufacturing, space exploration, and fiber-optic technology. Although helium exists in Earth’s atmosphere, it cannot yet be economically extracted from air, so the market supply mainly comes from separation processes at natural gas fields.
The United States is the largest producer, with 81 million cubic meters of helium in 2024, about 43.8% of global supply. Qatar is second with 64 million cubic meters, or 34.6%. Together, the two countries account for 78.4% of global commercial helium production.
Other producers include Russia with 17 million m3, Algeria with 11 million m3, Canada with 6 million m3, China with 3 million m3, and Poland with 3 million m3. This production structure means global helium supply depends heavily on a small number of countries, especially the US and Qatar.
That concentration also makes the global helium market vulnerable to geopolitical shocks or infrastructure disruptions. In Qatar’s case, the entire 64 million m3 of helium production comes from Ras Laffan Industrial City, operated by energy company QatarEnergy.
Ras Laffan Industrial City is also described as the largest LNG export hub in the world and was among the first targets attacked by Iran in retaliation for US and Israel airstrikes in late February. The disruption of this coastal industrial complex implies that 34.6% of global helium supply—more than one-third of world production—was disrupted simply because operations at the site stopped.
Because helium plays a crucial role in high-tech sectors ranging from healthcare to semiconductors and aerospace, disruptions at major production centers can quickly put pressure on global supply chains.
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