Air Products CEO Eduardo Menezes has said he expected headwinds in the helium market to continue into 2026 and 2027.
Helium has been a volatile earnings contributor for the industrial gas major in recent years, and it continues to impact Air Products and the wider industry on two fronts.
The sale to Messer of what was called the US Federal Helium Reserve, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), has led to a more uncertain helium market in North America and more widely – and another major challenge is that prices in China have softened on cheaper helium reaching the market from Russia since late 2023.
“Helium is a different product, and it’s a more cyclical business – and it became more cyclical when the BLM ended the programme, and the balance of the volume went away,” said Air Products CEO Eduardo Menezes, speaking on the company’s Q2 earnings call yesterday.
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