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Middle East tensions chokehold global helium supply
IDTechEx forecasts the overall growth in helium demand across different applications to nearly double by 2035.
W ith the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz paralysing a major transport route for global energy, the repercussions go beyond oil and gas, extending to the world’s helium supply, with downstream impact on industries such as semiconductor manufacturing that are critically reliant on helium. Helium is a finite resource that plays a critical role across several industries, including semiconductor manufacturing, medical imaging, aerospace engineering, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, fibre optics, particle physics, scientific balloons, and many more, with limited or no available alternatives in some cases. In a new report released by market intelligence firm IDTechEx, Dr Shababa Selim looks at the critical role of helium in the semiconductor industry, Qatar’s position in the helium supply chain (Qatar produces a third of the world’s helium supply) and what this means for semiconductor manufacturing. Semiconductor manufacturing relies on helium Sophisticated semiconductor products can have over a billion transistors etched onto silicon die the size of a fingernail. Realising this complexity requires multiple steps in the manufacturing line to control processes precisely at the atomic level, across wafers that can be 12 inches in diameter. Many chemicals and gases are critical to the semiconductor manufacturing process. Helium is one of them owing to its cryogenic properties, exceptional thermal conductivity, chemical inertness, small size, and
high diffusivity, with no direct substitutes. It is used throughout the manufacturing line and is essential to the operation of fabrication facilities. In its report Helium for Semiconductors and Beyond 2025-2035: Market, Trends, and Forecasts [1] , IDTechEx forecasts helium demand for semiconductor manufacturing to increase more than five-fold by 2035. For instance, within the manufacturing line, helium is essential as a carrier gas for deposition processes, as a dilutant in plasma etching, as well as wafer cooling to minimise warpage under thermal stress. It is essential for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography in sub-5nm chip manufacturing, critical for AI applications, to cool wafers and tools. Separately, in factory operations, helium gas is used in leak and safety testing of pipelines and equipment, as well as ultra-clean atmospheres required for manufacturing processes. Qatar’s position in the helium trade Globally, known helium reserves are mainly in Qatar, the USA, Algeria, Russia, Canada, and China, with Qatar having the largest reserves (>10 000 million m 3 ). Qatar is one of the main suppliers, together with the US and Russia, and being the second largest producer, it supplies over a third of the world’s helium supply. How helium is produced also matters, because it is generally produced as a by-product of natural gas processing, where helium is present at very small quantities (typically 0.3 to 0.5% depending on the reserve). Separating helium from natural gas requires a series of processing steps such as cryogenic separation for nitrogen and helium rejection, membrane and pressure swing adsorption (PSA), and further cryogenic liquefaction for transportation. This is all capital intensive, so it makes sense to produce helium only if the
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JUNE 2026 Electricity + Control
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