Helium shortage deflating party stores

? Party balloon retailers are feeling the pinch on the global helium supply across the country and in Kansas, the nation’s leading helium producer.

At Party City in Wichita, customers are limited to just six balloons. Hutchinson’s Decor Party Supplies hasn’t done the same thing yet, but employee Holly Pennington said the store’s helium is limited.

“We can’t get any more (helium tanks) right now,” she said. “One day we ordered five tanks and the next day the supplier called and said we can’t get any more.”

Part of the shortage problem that started months ago is with helium plants in Algeria and Qatar being off-line, said Leslie Theiss, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management office in Amarillo, Texas. The nation’s largest crude helium extraction operation is located there.

Another overseas plant has been involved in lengthy maintenance and two are behind on construction schedules, she said.

Private companies have been restricted in using the BLM pipelines that goes from Texas to Kansas because of pressure problems, slowing production rates even more.

Industry experts aren’t sure exactly when the shortage will end. Balloon retailers, which use 8 percent of helium supply annually, are hoping normal production levels return in time for Valentine’s Day, typically one of the busiest flower and balloon sales days of the year.

The worldwide helium market produces 6 billion cubic feet annually, according to Maureen Fama, a spokeswoman with Praxair, a company with helium plants at Ulysses and Bushton.

Kansas is the nation’s leader in helium production – producing about 4 billion cubic feet each year, Fama said.

Global demand has grown about 5 percent a year, Fama said. The global supply of helium is dwindling along with Kansas’ biggest reserve, the Hugoton Field.

Tom Pivonka, process operations manager for BOC Global Helium Inc. in Otis, said all industries that rely on helium have felt the effect of the shortage. BOC produces 16 percent of the world’s capacity at the Kansas plant that ranks No. 2 in production.

Tawnya Harner, owner of Flower & Gift Gallery in Hutchinson, said she has received letters from her supplier about the shortage and increased prices. She said she still is using the helium she purchased before the markup.

But if prices are skyrocketing when her next shipment comes in, Harner might have to raise her prices. “I hope we can hang on,” she said.