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Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Cost of liquid helium
Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2015 9:44:07 AM
Author: Jyllian Kemsley <jyllian.kemsley**At_Symbol_Here**gmail.com> 		Next by Date:
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (15 articles)
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2015 07:42:39 -0400
Author: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety"

From: Todd Perkins <p3wt3r**At_Symbol_Here**CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Cost of liquid helium
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:41:30 -0500
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: FB91B881-55B7-455E-ABEF-C607205130E9**At_Symbol_Here**charter.net
In-Reply-To


Being in the compressed gas industry I can explain how this works:

Helium is an extremely limited and non-renewable resource. It should be priced WAY higher than it is currently and uses like balloons should be completely discontinued immediately - but that's not going to happen. It is a byproduct of the natural gas refining process and most of what there is comes from natural gas deposits in Kansas.

There are a limited number of players who get the bulk of the government contracts to develop these deposits, including the helium. If production of natural gas slows down, there is less helium available. We've been in a helium shortage for several years now and there are many places which can't get the amounts they need. 

So realistically you are lucky to get liquid helium from anyone right now. If you want to compare prices with some other vendors, I encourage that, but don't burn any bridges because the supply from any given supplier may dry up at any point.

While I don't know the pricing structure for helium, as I'm not in sales, and price also depends on the size of the liquid cylinder, it does not sound like you are getting mugged over this pricing.

Regards,

Todd Perkins
Regional Safety Director
Airgas USA, LLC

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 24, 2015, at 1:06 PM, "Trimmer, Philip" <TrimmerP**At_Symbol_Here**WLU.EDU> wrote:

Hello.  I am hoping for a reality  check.  What are you all paying for 60 liters of liquid helium?   I thought prices were to begin falling a couple years ago.  Ours just went to $2300.

Am I  being scammed? 




 

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