Helium Shortage After Qatar Drone Strike Threatens Global Chip Production

Qatar's Ras Laffan helium purification facility — the source of roughly 25% of the world's refined helium — went offline on March 28 after an Iranian drone struck a compressor station on the perimeter of the complex, according to Qatar Energy, the state-owned operator.

Five days later, the facility remains shut. And the semiconductor industry, which consumes helium at nearly every stage of advanced chip fabrication, is running on reserves that major producers say will last two to six weeks.

Why Chips Need Helium

Helium is used to cool silicon wafers during lithography, to leak-test sealed chip packages, and to maintain the ultra-pure environments required for fabrication at nodes below 7 nanometres. There is no substitute for most of these applications.

"You cannot make a leading-edge chip without helium," said Yujin Kim, a semiconductor supply chain analyst at Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, in an interview with the Nikkei Asia. "It is not like choosing between two suppliers. It is helium or you stop the line."

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which produces more than 90% of the world's most advanced chips, declined to comment on its helium reserves. But a person familiar with TSMC's supply chain told Bloomberg that the company had shifted to a "conservation protocol" at its Hsinchu fabrication plants, reducing helium use by 30% through process adjustments that slow throughput.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, South Korea's two chip giants, face the same constraint. South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy listed helium among 14 semiconductor supply items at "severe risk" in a bulletin issued Monday.

A Second Bottleneck: Naphtha

Helium is not the only input under pressure. South Korean chipmakers also depend on ultra-pure naphtha — a petroleum derivative used to produce the chemicals that etch and clean silicon wafers.

With Middle Eastern naphtha shipments disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic, South Korean refiners have turned to Russia. Industry tracker Kpler reported that South Korean naphtha imports from Russian Pacific ports rose 40% in March compared to February.

The purchases sit in a legal grey area. South Korea has not sanctioned Russian petroleum exports, but the transactions rely on Russian shipping and insurance networks that the EU and US have targeted. Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement that it was "reviewing the compliance status of recent energy imports" without elaborating.

"Korea is quietly doing what it must to keep chip plants running," said Park Sung-ho, an energy trade analyst at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. "The question is how long that holds politically."

Cascading Through Tech

The chip shortage has not yet hit consumer electronics, but lead times are stretching. Delivery windows for automotive-grade chips from Samsung's Pyeongtaek plant have extended from eight weeks to twelve, according to two automotive suppliers who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

NVIDIA, which relies on TSMC for its AI training chips, has not disclosed supply concerns. But its stock fell 6.3% on Monday after the Korea semiconductor risk bulletin was published.

Medical equipment is also exposed. Helium is essential for MRI machines — both for manufacturing superconducting magnets and for operating them. Siemens Healthineers said in a statement that it was "monitoring the helium situation closely" and had "sufficient supply for current operations" without specifying a timeline.

No Quick Fix

Global helium production is concentrated in four countries: the United States, Qatar, Algeria, and Russia. US production, mainly from the Bureau of Land Management's Cliffside facility in Texas, is already allocated years in advance under long-term contracts.

Algeria's Skikda plant, the next largest source, is operating at capacity. Russia's Amur Gas Processing Plant in Siberia ramped up helium production in 2025, but sanctions and logistics make Russian helium difficult for Western and allied buyers to access.

Qatar Energy said in a statement on Monday that repairs at Ras Laffan were "progressing" but gave no timeline for restart. The company said the drone caused "limited structural damage" but that safety inspections required a full shutdown of the purification train.

The Semiconductor Industry Association, based in Washington, called on the US government to release helium from the Federal Helium Reserve — a stockpile the government has been selling down for a decade. The Bureau of Land Management said it would "assess the request" but noted that remaining reserves are "substantially below historical levels."

TSMC's next quarterly earnings call on April 17 is expected to provide the first official guidance on whether the helium shortage will reduce chip output in the second quarter.