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<\/p>\nHundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of helium are sitting in the Middle East<\/p>\n
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As liquid helium heats up, it turns back to a gas and escapes containment \u2013 giving it an effective shelf life<\/p>\n
The war in Iran is threatening the global supply of helium, an essential component in cooling chip-making tools.<\/p>\n
That means the AI sector is straining under another resource issue, alongside the reduced supply of oil being shipped down the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
The World Trade Organisation warned earlier this month<\/a> that the reduction in oil supply could \u201ccrimp\u201d the global AI boom.<\/p>\n Helium is a natural gas by-product, meaning it must be refined from naturally occurring gas fields and shipped in its supercooled liquid form.<\/p>\n The gas is an excellent heat conductor and used in many industries. For example, chip makers use it to maintain stable temperatures in the production of advanced semiconductors; the healthcare industry uses it to cool the superconducting magnets inside MRI scanners; and the space industry uses it to purge rocket fuel tanks.<\/p>\n While helium is common in the universe as a whole \u2013 the second most-common element after hydrogen \u2013 it is rare on Earth. Most of the world\u2019s supply comes from the USA, but about a third comes from Qatar, just across the Persian Gulf from Iran.<\/p>\n Image<\/p>\n Description<\/p>\n Qatar, which supplies about a third of the world\u2019s helium, ships all of it through the Strait of Hormuz \u2013 which Iran has closed due to the US-Israeli war<\/p>\n The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has choked the global supply of helium and threatens the production and operation of everything from chips to space rockets.<\/p>\n Although it will take time for the shortage to be felt, \u201csuppliers are already telling some customers to expect supply cuts and surcharges,\u201d according to<\/a> the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n That is especially true because helium has an effective shelf life. Liquid helium constantly absorbs heat and eventually turns back into a gas. When the pressure in a container gets too high, the gas escapes.<\/p>\n Most containers will hold helium for 35-48 days. Hundreds of such containers are now stuck in the Middle East.<\/p>\n Direct helium buyers typically lock in their supply through long-term contracts, but are now \u201cscrambling\u201d to secure short-term spot market cargoes. Prices have already more than doubled, and some buyers, especially South Korean chip makers, are looking to new sources like US providers.<\/p>\n Ralf Gubler, research director at S&P Global Energy, said the helium supply issue \u201chighlights a deeper vulnerability in the AI build\u2011out: extreme dependence on a small number of geopolitically exposed nodes.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\".\/media_18d54a3558b84f65a6fd892fd2dcfc474f7ae300a.png?width=750&format=png&optimize=medium\")
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