Russia poised to benefit from the helium supply crunch amid Iran war

By Finance News On Mar 27, 2026

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Helium has emerged as a key focus for the tech sector as industry watchers cast their minds to the implications of a prolonged Iran war.

A byproduct of natural gas production, helium is crucial to semiconductor manufacturing and the world’s second largest supplier has seen its export capacity hamstrung by Iranian strikes.

Qatar, which owns part of the world’s largest gas field, provided over 30% of the market in 2025, according to S&P Global. That’s a big gap to fill.

“The shutdown of Qatar helium production due to the US-Iran military conflict has removed roughly a third of global helium supply and shifted the market from oversupplied to undersupplied,” Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note from March 12.

Prices have surged since, and while many market watchers are optimistic about chipmakers retaining access to the material, a drawn-out conflict will mean helium buyers are forced to scramble to maintain supply chains.

Helium producers in North America — which holds the largest share of the market — are set to benefit from the disruption to Qatar’s supply, but Russia — the third largest helium supplier — could also gain.

Russia’s helium play

Helium is used in chipmaking to transfer heat due to its cooling properties in a number of processes.

Before the Iran war, Russia had already increased helium production because it has ample reserves and “a war to fund,” according to a Bernstein note from March 13 referencing the war in Ukraine. That led to non-sanctioned markets being flooded with the element and lower prices, the analysts added.

While sanctions and trade limitations in Europe and the U.S. hamper access to those markets for Russian helium producers, other major chipmaking countries like China — which produced 33% of mature-node chips in 2023, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association — have been increasingly turning to Moscow.

Russia-to-China helium exports rose 60% year-on-year in 2025, according to research organization the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP).

Prolonged disruption to Qatar helium exports could see a big gap emerge in the Chinese market, with the Middle Eastern country supplying 54% of the country’s helium last year, per CGEP.

While Russian helium is unlikely to become a preferred solution for Western chipmakers due to trade limitations, it could “clear into markets like China, tightening supply elsewhere,” Ralf Gubler, research director for industrial gases and fertilisers at S&P Global Energy, told me.

“If Qatari disruptions persist, Russia is well placed to further expand its role in China’s helium supply mix,” CGEP research scholar Erica Downs wrote in a blog post.

Russian helium has not been qualified for supply to wafer fabs, but its supply could go to other applications, freeing up qualified supply for the chip sector, Phil Kornbluth, president of Kornbluth Helium Consulting, told…