China’s Commerce Ministry will temporarily ban helium exports under foreign-trade rules, a defensive move to protect domestic chip production as global supply tightens. The U.S. and Qatar supply over three-quarters of the world’s helium, with the U.S. alone at 42.6%. But the Iran conflict has disrupted Qatar, while helium from other LNG producers is hard to export. China imports more than 80% of its helium. Customs data show imports rose 21.7% last year to over 4,900 tons, while exports were only about 788 tons. Even after exports jumped 32% during the conflict, Beijing now wants to keep the gas for its chip fabs.