That's not good. China and Qatar together produce about 35% of the worlds helium. This coupled with Russia recently halting all diesel fuel exports until at least the end of July indicates to me that the next wave of ripples from the start of the Iran war are starting to arrive.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 9 points 18 hours ago

This is roughly the time line that experts suggested incidentally. There was a couple of month of backlog that was being cleared, and now it's gone and reserves are starting to get low. So, there's no way to hide fuel shortages or associated byproducts like helium now. Also a fun fact is that helium can't be stockpiled and relies on constant production.

[–] jrs100000@lemmy.world 8 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Thats not true at all. The US is about 43%, and Qatar about 33%, Russia about 9%, and China less than 2%.

[–] joekar1990@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago

You are correct and I apologize for the incorrect number combining Qatar and China. While the us is one of the biggest helium producers if the US is trying to fill the gap that's happening from countries not being able to export or banning exports it's only going to continue to drive prices higher. Unless demand destruction occurs prices will continue to go higher in my opinion.

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

i mean its good that its bad for the empire

[–] pucker4676@lemmy.ml 8 points 22 hours ago

Death to Amerikkka.