"Helium" prices double, A-share speculation reflects the "independent and controllable" vision

Ask AI · What real-world challenges does helium with autonomous, controllable supply face?

Reported by Zhao Yunfan, a reporter for 21st Century Business Herald

In the A-share market, which has been disturbed by geopolitical factors, an unusual theme is quietly building momentum.

From March 19 to 23, shares of helium special-gas leader Huarte Gas (688268.SH) rose for three consecutive trading days, with the cumulative increase diverging by more than 30% from the daily deviation; at one point, the single-day trading value expanded to 1.5 billion yuan. Meanwhile, gas stocks such as Jinhong Gas (688106.SH) and Kameite Gas (002549.SZ) also saw independent rallies.

And one commonality among several of these companies is helium resource supply—where the two long-term main lines of geopolitical factors and semiconductors intersect.

A supply cut shockwave

In early March, the geopolitical situation kept escalating. LNG facilities located in Qatar Ras Laffan Industrial City were attacked, causing production at one of the world’s largest LNG plants to stall, while uncertainty on the supply side continued to grow.

Helium is a key byproduct extracted during natural gas liquefaction. The Qatar gas field has a relatively high helium content, making it the world’s second-largest helium-producing country. In 2025, its helium output accounted for more than one-third of global total production.

The damage from the attack is long-lasting. Previously, Kabbi, CEO of QatarEnergy, publicly stated that repair work would lead to roughly 12.8 million tons of LNG capacity being shut down each year, with the duration potentially lasting as long as three to five years. This implies that associated helium supply may face a long-term, rigid shortfall.

As one of the most readily available inert gases, helium is widely used in core semiconductor manufacturing processes such as photolithography, etching, ion implantation, and vapor-phase deposition, serving as a protective gas, carrier gas, and purge gas due to its stable chemical properties. In wafer fabrication costs, electronic gases are the second-largest cost item for raw materials/ancillaries after silicon wafers, accounting for about 13%-15%.

But as the situation in the Middle East becomes increasingly complex, wafer manufacturers have started to focus on and assess supply chain bottlenecks and price transmission in advance. Reports indicate that Korean chip giants such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have urgently reviewed their helium inventory status. In the Chinese market, there are many mature-process semiconductor manufacturing companies with strong demand for helium. To a certain extent, relevant companies in the A-share market have been affected.

According to data from Zhaochuang Information, for 6N semiconductor-grade ultra-high-purity helium spot transactions with spot orders (散单) in March, cumulative gains reached 87.69%. Liquid helium, imported/domestic bundled (tube bundle) helium rose 75.71%, 71.88%, and 60%, respectively. In the same period, the long-term contract (long-term agreement, 长协) prices for the above categories increased by 3.8%, 2.9%, 2.4%, and 2.1% in sequence.

Challenges for industrial-chain self-reliance

In fact, due to special gas supply-chain problems triggered by global geopolitics, such issues have occurred frequently in recent years. From 2022 to 2024, the prices of gases such as neon, krypton, and xenon once experienced supply disruptions due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, along with relatively sharp price swings.

Geopolitical conflicts have amplified supply-chain risks, but they have also made domestic industry once again place greater emphasis on autonomous, controllable helium and electronic special gases.

The 《“14th Five-Year Plan” for Raw Materials Industrial Development》 proposes that China should address the “chokepoint” problems in key categories such as high-purity electronic gases and rare gases. Data from Aijimicro shows that China’s electronic special gas market has been growing rapidly; from 2019 to 2023 it kept climbing, reaching 24.9 billion yuan in 2023. It is expected that in 2025 the market scale will reach 27.9 billion yuan, maintaining a compound annual growth rate of around 12%-13% during the period, and the domestic substitution rate for electronic special gases is expected to rise to 25%.

However, in the case of helium alone, the pace of localization is relatively slow.

In terms of how helium is obtained: although helium is a natural-gas byproduct material, natural gas does not necessarily contain a high helium content. Since helium is a natural mineral accumulated from geological changes, its source depends on the degree of mineral enrichment. Bio-natural gas (such as biogas from compost or other artificially produced natural gas) contains no helium, so it cannot be obtained from ordinary natural gas. Conventional chemical processes also cannot manufacture helium through decomposition or synthesis.

Public information shows that China’s dependence on imported helium has long remained above 95%.

At present, domestic helium producers are leveraging a dual-track model of imports plus in-house production to expand helium capacity. Imported natural gas mainly comes from Qatar, Russia, and others. Domestically, relying on local natural gas industry, associated helium and so on are extracted and refined from lower-grade natural gas. Companies such as Huarte Gas, Jinhong Gas, and Kameite Gas mainly rely on import refining; however, aside from imported gas, there are still problems with raw material self-sufficiency.

In addition, some companies have tried to extract small amounts of helium from air. For example, companies such as Hangyang Group have the capability to extract helium from large-scale air separation units. But because extraction costs are high, output is extremely limited. At present, there is no trend toward industrialization and economic feasibility beyond the laboratory.

Overall, the domestic industry’s level of attention to helium or electronic special gases continues to rise, but in the face of booming demand, supply chains and the need for autonomous industrial capability are still becoming increasingly stringent.

Since 2025, as the global AI race has intensified to a fever pitch—driving a surge in demand for high-end chips—wafer fabs have entered a new round of capacity expansion cycles, and demand growth for electronic gases is even more rapid. The continued expansion of domestic memory makers and wafer fabs provides a broad validation and volume-increase window for local gas companies.

In a recent research report, Northeast Securities clearly stated that it firmly sees long-term allocation value of the electronic gases sector under a resonance between supply and demand. On the demand side, the industry’s market scale is expected to enter a nonlinear growth expansion channel; on the supply side, changes in the external environment are forcing downstream manufacturers to accelerate reshaping of their supply chains. Huatai Securities also pointed out that, alongside the expansion of domestic storage and wafer fab capacity in China, and with gas supply constrained amid the Middle East geopolitical conflict, the overall business conditions for China’s electronic gases industry in 2026 are expected to accelerate.

Watch out for different hype paths

In terms of industrial logic and capital market logic: because natural gas imports are primarily based on long-term contract agreements, and since the cost of separating helium itself accounts for a relatively low share of the overall natural gas cost, a supply disruption by itself can allow related companies to fully benefit from the resulting price-increase gains.

Huarte Gas recently also indicated in its interactions with investors that the company’s price for high-purity helium has risen noticeably; overseas orders have increased; domestic products have been partially diverted; and prices can easily be pushed up.

Jinhong Gas said that currently the price of high-purity helium used for semiconductor cooling has risen significantly, but because customers’ demand volumes differ, the actual prices also differ.

It is worth noting that the electronic special gases industry has many subcategories. Some lower-end categories, such as nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), have structural oversupply; relevant industry hype should still watch for risks.

In addition, some companies with high-helium production capacity are mainly gas companies, such as Shuitfa Gas and JiuFeng Energy. However, due to the supply-chain crisis causing the cost of importing raw materials to be listed/charged at higher levels, their main businesses such as gas may face some cost pressure.