Tokyo Disney suspends sales of helium balloons! After the chip, helium was in short supply, and the price hit a new half-century high

Recently, a news that Tokyo Disneyland in Japan stopped selling helium balloons aroused the curiosity of netizens. It is reported that helium is an inert gas, because of its excellent stability, in recent years it has become the main force of filling balloons. But since December, Tokyo Disneyland has rarely stopped selling helium balloons during the year-end peak season, and the timing of the restart is unpredictable.

It is said that the reason for the suspension of sales at Tokyo Disneyland in Japan was due to the shortage of helium and insufficient supply.

It is reported that helium is an inert gas, because of its excellent stability, daily life and cutting-edge technology, medical and many other fields play an important role. But the gas is produced in only a few countries, and Japan relies entirely on imports.

However, the recent delay in global shipping affected by the epidemic has affected Japan's helium imports. According to statistics, Japan's helium imports from January to October this year were only 1,090 tons, a decrease of 10% over the same period last year. The price of imported helium has hit a new high of about half a century, reaching 8,148 yen (about 453 yuan) per kilogram, 2 percent higher than in 2020, the highest price in the past 50 years, and nearly 40 percent higher than the low point in 2017.

According to Japanese media reports, there are already helium suppliers in Japan who are negotiating with semiconductor companies to adjust the supply. If the shortage continues, it will undoubtedly be worse for Japanese semiconductor companies and automakers that have been seriously affected by the "lack of cores". In addition, NMR equipment in the medical field and storage devices in data centers can also be affected by helium shortages.

Helium itself is a colorless, odorless, single-atom gas. The chemical properties of helium are also not active, and in the gas category, it belongs to the "inert gas". It is precisely because helium is not active enough in chemical performance, even if helium is injected into extreme environments, helium will still maintain its intact inert form and do not react with other gases, so it is widely used in high-tech, military, medical and other industries.

For example, in medical aspects, liquid helium can be used in cutting-edge medical treatment, such as superconducting magnetic coil cooling in nuclear magnetic resonance equipment. Helium is also indispensable in chip manufacturing of the "core" of science and technology, which can be used for semiconductor cleaning, analyzer calibration, airbag filling, etc. Not only that, in the particle collider experiment that is being vigorously developed in China, helium is also an indispensable and important link, because in order to successfully complete the particle collision experiment, it is necessary to first soak the cable of the experimental machine in a container full of liquid helium, so that the cable can achieve superconductivity properties at ultra-low temperatures.

But on Earth, the presence of helium is extremely rare, and the most important distribution place is natural gas wells. Helium accounts for only 0.0005% of the atmosphere and can hardly extract helium by separating the air. China's demand for helium is very large, only one year, China will consume more than 4000 tons of helium, of which 4000 tons of helium, nearly 3800 tons are imported as rare gas resources.

Nandu reporter learned that on December 15, 2021, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council issued the Notice on the Tariff Adjustment Plan for 2022 with Document [2021] No. 18 of the Taxation Commission. The adjustment plan will be implemented from January 1, 2022, and the tariff adjustment will reduce the import tariff of various gases, including helium.

However, China's helium extraction has also made a new breakthrough. For example, in 2020, China's first commercial production and operation of helium facility was completed and put into operation in Yanchi County, Ningxia. The plant is built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in cooperation with physical and chemical research and Zhongneng BAIC, and will not only carry out helium extraction in the future, but also carry out related technical research.

In addition, on December 16 this year, China's largest large-scale LNG plant flash vapor extraction high-purity helium project (referred to as BOG helium project) officially settled in The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Ordos Hangjinqi, according to China News Network, as of now, the project's production capacity has exceeded 1 million square meters.

Written by: Nandu reporter Kong Xueshao