MOSCOW, April 25 In March, China imported almost $12.5 million worth of inert gases from Russia, including those necessary for the operation of weather balloons — this is a record for one month since at least 2015 (earlier data are not available), it was found out by studying the indicators of the Chinese statistical service.
Thus, at the end of March 2024, China’s imports of inert gases from Russia amounted to $12.5 million, which was the highest value since 2015. These inert gases, in particular, include helium, which is filled with weather balloons and balloons, used in medicine, scuba diving, and research, as well as xenon, neon and krypton, used in various lamps.
In addition to Russia, the main suppliers of helium and other inert gases to the Celestial Empire in March were Qatar, whose import volumes amounted to $21 million, and the United States with $3 million. In addition, small volumes of these gases came from Hong Kong ($79 thousand), France ($75 thousand), South Korea (19 thousand), Germany ($1.9 thousand) and Japan ($572).
All imports of helium and other noble gases in March increased by 13% compared to the previous month, to $37.2 million. However, these are not the largest volumes of deliveries in recent times.
And at the end of last year, China bought more than $502 million of inert gases. The main suppliers were Qatar ($381 million), USA (79 million), Russia (31 million), Poland (3.1 million) and Ukraine (2.1 million).