ISTANBUL 

The ongoing Middle East crisis is straining the world’s helium supply, posing a threat to the semiconductor sector.

Qatar is one of the countries most affected by the current war in the region, and among the leading countries in the helium sector.

When Iran’s drones and missiles struck Qatar's Ras Laffan complex, helium production was significantly impacted as the plant accounts for a massive portion of global helium production.

Experts say supply constraints will not be solved in the short term, and even if geopolitical risks subside, Qatar’s helium exports are expected to fall.

Asia is likely to be the most affected by the helium disruption, with South Korea and Taiwan heavily relying on the product for manufacturing chips.

Any prolonged disruption could lead to more bottlenecks in chip production, while the rippling effects could create more setbacks in the global electronics market.

Production-related issues could lead to economic disruptions in sectors where helium is widely used.

Sadi Kaymaz, an Asian markets analyst, told Anadolu that the lightest noble gas on the periodic table is used in many areas, ranging from MRI machines to fusion reactors and even in quantum computers, while its supply is dependent on the US, Qatar, and Russia.

Kaymaz also said the suspension of operations at the Ras Laffan plant in Qatar shook the market.

“Asia, where the world’s manufacturing hubs are, is closely monitoring the situation,” he said. “The chip market is the most sensitive area and helium's wide use in thermal control, vacuum environments, and leak detection means it’s a staple in the semiconductor industry.”

“Helium is also an essential in cooling lithography machines made by Dutch firm ASML — advanced chips are impossible to produce without these machines,” he added.

Kaymaz noted that no other gas can replace helium in these applications, and with South Korea importing more than 65% of its helium from Qatar, the future looks gloomy.

“Samsung and SK Hynix make 80% of the world’s high-bandwidth memory and around 70% of DRAM (dynamic random access memory),” he said. “The good news is that South Korean manufacturers still have a six-month supply for now.”

He mentioned that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) is not in such a relatively positive position, unlike its South Korean counterparts, as the company manufacturing nearly all the world’s advanced chips has reserves enough for its domestic operations until mid-May.

TSMC reported it may source supplies from the US, but its stock levels are still declining.

Kaymaz stated that most modern advanced chip plants feature recycling systems capable of recovering 90-95% of the helium, with Samsung being the first to install such a system, saving over 4.7 tons per year.

“More than 70% of advanced fabs in Japan and Taiwan have these systems, while ⁠the rate in Singapore is below 50% — recycling may help, but it is not on a large enough scale to make a dent in closing the supply gap,” he said.

Kaymaz noted that in the hard disk drive sector, helium replaced air in high-capacity drives.

“Western Digital shipped over 27 million helium-filled drives since 2014 and Seagate also makes helium-filled drives, but the situation is even more urgent in the medical field,” he said. “More than 14,000 MRI machines are in operation worldwide and all of them use superconducting magnets cooled by liquid helium — these magnets don’t work without helium.”

“Fiber-optic cable production is also under threat as helium is used to prevent defects in the fiber glass structure, and with the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, the demand for fiber-optic cables for data centers is growing day by day,” he added.

* Writing by Emir Yildirim.