Why has the price of high-purity helium remained high?
Helium, high-purity helium
The medical imaging community generally believes that liquid helium is crucial for the operation of superconducting MR systems. For this reason, MR manufacturers and system operators need to closely monitor the supply of high-purity helium gas, especially considering the increasingly volatile high-purity helium gas market in recent years, which has forced the new generation of MR systems to use high-purity helium gas more efficiently.
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Liquid helium is the coldest substance on Earth, with a boiling point of -452 degrees Fahrenheit (-269 degrees Celsius). Due to its very low temperature, it is used to cool the niobium titanium wire of superconducting MR magnets until the wire loses its resistance and becomes superconducting. After the superconducting magnet receives its initial liquid helium charge, the liquid helium cooling the niobium titanium wire gradually evaporates over time and must be replenished regularly. Although early MR magnets required replenishment every two months, the latest generation of magnets may only need to be replenished once a year. During periods of severe shortage of high-purity helium gas, the risk of delayed delivery of high-purity helium gas increases, increasing the risk of magnet quenching. When the magnet loses time, it causes image interference to the patient's movement during magnet repair or cooling to high-purity helium gas temperature, and the cost of replacing high-purity helium gas also increases.
From 2011 to 2013, the high-purity helium business experienced the most severe shortage in history. During these three years, the global supply of high-purity helium gas has decreased by an average of 20%, and major suppliers of high-purity helium gas have reallocated their supplies to their customers. Due to the shortage, high-purity helium supply has become a seller's market, and the price of helium suppliers has increased by at least 2 times. During this period, the supply of high-purity helium gas was a headache for MR original manufacturers, as they had many unpleasant experiences with high-purity helium gas suppliers. In early 2014, when a new helium source began production in Qatar, the shortage turned into an oversupply situation. In 2016 and the first half of 2017, the market remained stable and supply and demand returned to a healthy balance.
Since June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain have announced sanctions on Qatar, resulting in a relatively tight supply of high-purity helium gas, leading to a reduction of nearly 30% of the world's high-purity helium gas supply. Although production in Qatar resumed after about three weeks of power outages, the high-purity helium market has remained relatively tight since then. With seasonal demand increasing and several factory maintenance power outages having a negative impact on supply, the market experienced a shortage in February 2018.
What is our supply situation today? Since the end of winter, two of the five major global helium suppliers have been allocating supplies to customers, while the other suppliers are experiencing tight supply. The global helium supply chain is more 'fragile' than in the past, as the US government's federal helium inventory is nearing depletion and the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) crude helium pipelines and storage systems are no longer able to provide it. Fortunately, due to its medical importance, high-purity helium gas supply in the MR market is prioritized over other applications such as party balloons.
Given the tight supply, high-purity helium gas has once again become a seller's market, and helium prices will rise again. If you want to reduce the risk of supply disruptions, now is also the time to carefully study the helium supplier supply mix and consider multi-channel procurement.
Future supply prospects
Unfortunately, it is expected that the high-purity helium market will remain tight in the coming years due to moderate demand growth and a continued decline in supply capacity related to BLM crude oil helium pipelines. It is not anticipated that there will be any new major supply sources entering the market until Qatar resumes production. During this period, there may be occasional shortages in the high-purity helium market, especially due to factory maintenance interruptions resulting in reduced production. During this period, helium prices may rise.
In mid-2021, Gazprom is expected to start production from a very large new source in Siberia, which could restore the balance between supply and demand for high-purity helium and potentially cause oversupply when production increases. The Amur plant will ultimately produce 2.1 billion standard cubic feet (BCF) of high-purity helium annually from three 700 million standard cubic feet helium liquefiers. The first of these liquefaction units is expected to start in 2021, the second unit is expected to start in 2022, and the third unit is expected to start in 2026/2027. The current supply of high-purity helium gas is about 7 BCF per year, so the increase of 2.1 BCF is very significant.
