The hi-tech industry is struggling to find adequate helium, supplies of which have been constrained by the war in the Persian Gulf.
Reuters reports that industry executives say they are scrambling to secure alternative supplies of the gas, which is used in several key stages of chipmaking, including cooling, leak detection and precision manufacturing processes.
The New York Times reports that, first, output in Qatar was halted, and then the outlook worsened after Iran struck Qatar’s largest liquefied natural gas facility on March 18-19, damaging helium production lines that could take years to rebuild.
Without helium, leading chip makers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, could struggle to keep production lines running, affecting semiconductor-powered devices from Apple’s iPhones to Nvidia’s A.I. servers.
Market prices for helium, which is a byproduct of natural gas processing, have spiked sharply since the Middle East crisis began, because Qatar produces nearly one third of world supply, making it the largest producer outside the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Prolonged shortages could force production cuts and ripple through industries from electronics to automobiles, said Cameron Johnson, senior partner at supply chain consultancy Tidal Wave Solutions, at Semicon China in Shanghai, one of the semiconductor industry's largest annual gatherings.
