Due to "force majeure", Qatar's helium supply is "halved" and the semiconductor supply chain is "under great pressure"

Bao Yilong

Source: Wall Street News

Disruptions to Qatar’s energy infrastructure have caused helium supply shortages. AirGas, one of the largest packaged gas distributors in the United States, has officially announced plans to cut monthly helium supplies to some customers to 50% of normal levels, with an additional surcharge of $13.50 per hundred cubic feet.

The helium supply disruption triggered by damage to Qatar’s energy infrastructure is rippling through the supply chain to the global semiconductor and medical industries.

As reported by Bloomberg this week, AirGas, one of the largest packaged gas distributors in the U.S., formally announced on March 17 that due to a force majeure event, it expects to reduce monthly helium allocations to certain customers to 50% of normal volumes, while imposing a surcharge of $13.50 per hundred cubic feet.

As Wall Street News noted, Qatar is the world’s most important helium supplier, accounting for roughly one-third of global output.

Attacks on regional energy infrastructure by Iran have halted Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production — a critical upstream process for helium extraction. Qatar’s state-owned oil and gas company subsequently warned that helium exports were at risk of collapse.

AirGas, a subsidiary of France’s Air Liquide SA, is among the largest packaged gas distributors in the United States. Its force majeure declaration marks that the production shock in Qatar has officially spread from upstream to downstream distribution, shifting supply chain disruptions from a warning phase to one of tangible impact.

### Pressure on Both Medical and Semiconductor Industries

Helium is irreplaceable in industrial and medical applications.

In healthcare, hospitals rely on helium to operate MRI machines and treat patients with certain respiratory conditions.

In manufacturing, helium serves as a core inert gas in advanced semiconductor production, and is especially indispensable for cutting-edge products such as NVIDIA’s AI acceleration chips.

In a market update published by Vizient, a hospital procurement services organization, AirGas has explicitly prioritized healthcare customers over other industries when allocating limited supplies.

So far, professionals in the U.S. medical imaging field have stated that the helium market volatility has not yet caused material impacts on patient care.

However, as supply shortfalls widen, the semiconductor industry could face deeper disruptions. Extended helium supply constraints for foundries including TSMC may lead to significant production gaps.

If tensions between Iran and the region persist, the timeline for Qatar’s LNG production recovery remains uncertain, and helium shortages will continue to expand, effectively constraining global AI chip manufacturing capacity.

The semiconductor industry is at a critical stage of addressing massive demand driven by data center construction. Any systemic contraction in raw material supply will directly exacerbate existing production bottlenecks.

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