Global Chip Production In Peril As Qatar Warns Helium Exports Set To Collapse

Iran’s attack this week on Qatar’s natural gas export facility threatens to disrupt not just world energy markets but also global technology supply chains because the helium it produces is crucial for a range of advanced industries, and especially semiconductors.

Best known as the gas that makes party balloons float, helium is far more important as a key input in chipmaking, space rockets and medical imaging. That's because nothing substitutes for helium in cryogenic applications if temperatures below −429 degrees Fahrenheit are required.