The war in the Middle East could pose a threat to the semiconductor industry and other sectors dependent on a resource produced in the Gulf — helium.

Helium is a little-known but key input in many industries, most notably technology. In semiconductor manufacturing, its cooling properties are used to transfer heat. Helium is also indispensable in photolithography, a technique used to print each chip’s intricate circuitry.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that before the war Qatar produced more than one-third of the world’s helium supply. Lately, however, operations at QatarEnergy’s Ras Laffan Industrial City — the world’s largest liquified natural gas export facility, which produces helium as a byproduct — were halted after it was struck by an Iranian drone early in the war. On Wednesday, Iranian missiles crippled the plant.

A global helium shortage would ripple across a range of industries.

“Qatar makes some 30% of the world’s helium — a key input for semiconductors, industrial manufacturing, and medical imaging — while several key ingredients for fertilizer production also move through the Strait,” according to a report early this week by the chief investment office of UBS Global Wealth Management. “Any lengthy disruption will not only impact energy prices, but also food prices and industrial production.”

Known chokepoint

Helium supply has always been a risk. In 2023 the Semiconductor Industry Association cautioned that “there would likely be shocks to the global semiconductor manufacturing industry” should the supply of helium be disrupted.

Today, a lengthy “prolonged regional conflict could potentially disrupt chipmakers’ manufacturing operations regarding sourcing materials like helium and bromine,” Ray Wang, computer memory analyst at SemiAnalysis, told CNBC. “For now, the impact appears to be limited. However, a prolonged conflict could eventually lead to disruptions or require adjustments in the sourcing of key materials.”

South Korea and Taiwan, the world’s two largest semiconductor makers, are particularly vulnerable to Middle East helium supply.

In 2025, South Korean manufacturers bought 55% of their helium from countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council, a union of six Arab nations. Taiwan bought 69% of its helium from the GCC in 2024, according to a report out Wednesday from analysts at Barclays.

The Strait of Hormuz’s effective closure has spiked helium prices by limiting supply. Bank of America estimated in a note last week that spot helium prices have surged as much as 40%, depending on the market. On Monday, Phil Kornbluth, president of Kornbluth Helium Consulting, told CNBC that prices were up by 70% to 100%, in some cases within a little more than a week.

Semiconductors are at the ‘top of the pecking order’

If helium supplies grow short, allocations will be determined by…

Iran’s strikes are pushing Gulf states toward a breaking point, forcing a choice between restraint and retaliation.

Iran’s Gulf neighbors have been repeatedly targeted and hit by Iranian drones and missiles as part of the Islamic Republic’s retaliatory strikes against the U.S. and Israel’s bombardment since late February.

The latest and perhaps most significant escalation in attacks on Iran’s neighbors came this week when Tehran launched retaliatory missile attacks on Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal following Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field.

Gulf states — from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait — have responded to Iran’s repeated attacks on their energy infrastructure by saying “a price must be paid” and that the attacks “cannot go unanswered,” but, so far, they have not retaliated.

That diplomatic and defensive position can’t and won’t last forever, analysts say, noting that the Gulf states are now likely weighing up when, where and how they might shift from a neutral stance to an offensive one.

Patience among the Gulf states is obviously wearing thin, with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud warning early Thursday that tolerance of Iranian attacks on his country and neighboring Gulf states is limited.

“I think it’s important for the Iranians to understand that the kingdom, but also its partners who have been attacked and beyond, have very significant capacities and capabilities that they could bring to bear should they choose to do so,” he said.

“The patience that is being exhibited is not unlimited. Do they [the Iranians] have a day, two, a week? I’m not going to telegraph that,” he added. CNBC has requested further comment from the foreign ministry.

Gulf leaders face a difficult dilemma as Iran continues to target their critical infrastructure across the region, analysts told CNBC.

“Despite extensive diplomatic efforts … to remain neutral, the Gulf states find themselves right in the centre of Iran’s firing line,” Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East Analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC Wednesday.

“Active steps to remain neutral – like limiting U.S. access to bases in the region – have done little to shield the Gulf states from Iranian attacks. But any decision to take military action against Iran could spark an even worse Iranian retaliation,” he noted.

The decision facing Gulf leaders is between two main options, both of which carry significant risks: “Double down on diplomacy and defensive measures or pivot to an offensive stance aimed at reducing Iran’s ability to carry out attacks,” he added.

Asian technology stocks fell on Thursday as Iran’s latest attacks on Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City and a surge in oil prices rattled investor sentiment, amplifying concerns over supply chain disruptions across the semiconductor industry. 

Materials derived from Middle Eastern energy markets are used extensively in electronics manufacturing, from printed circuit boards to semiconductor process chemicals.

South Korea memory giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics fell 2.23% and 1.8% respectively. Seoul Semiconductor shares declined 2.53%.

Japan’s Advantest fell over 4%, while Tokyo Electron lost 1.99%. Taiwan’s TSMC was down 2.1%.

China’s ‘AI tigers’ MiniMax and Knowledge Atlas Technology, also known as Zhipu, declined 10% and 8%. The slide comes after a surge in Chinese artificial intelligence stocks following upbeat comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on the promise of AI agents and OpenClaw.

Hong Kong listed stocks of Alibaba slid 3.34%, while Tencent declined 6%.

“Recent market moves can almost entirely be attributed to the Middle East conflict and spiking oil prices, macro risks far outweigh company fundamentals for now,” said UBP’s senior equity advisor Vey-Sern Ling in an email to CNBC.

While the immediate concern centers on higher oil prices stoking inflation fears, analysts noted the deeper risk lies in second-order effects rippling through the semiconductor supply chain.

Helium is a key material for the semiconductor industry, with Qatar producing over a third of the world’s helium supply as a by-product of natural gas processing.

Ongoing disruptions of Qatar’s LNG facilities could threaten to further raise prices of helium for semiconductor companies, with no viable alternatives available.

On March 2, state energy giant QatarEnergy, the world’s second-largest LNG exporter, announced a production halt at its 77 ‌million tons per annum (mtpa) facility and declared force majeure on LNG shipments.

“Qatar’s gas disruption is tightening the supply of helium, a natural gas byproduct used in semiconductor manufacturing and medical imaging,” analysts at Fitch Ratings wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday.

“Asia’s semiconductor supply chain faces rising tail risk from helium tightness as the Iran conflict drags on and Qatar’s natural gas disruption persists,” the analysts added.

Shelley Jang, director of Asia-Pacific corporate ratings at Fitch Ratings, told CNBC via email that disruptions at Ras Laffan could create further logistical delays and reduced availability.

Even if production were to restart, getting helium to market would face…

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned that if Iran continued targeting Qatar’s energy facilities, America would “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field.”

Tehran has attacked a key energy facility in Qatar after Israel bombed the South Pars Gas in Iran, signaling a sharp escalation in the conflict and sending energy prices soaring.

Qatar said Wednesday that Iranian missiles caused “extensive damage” at Ras Laffan Industrial City, home to the largest liquefied natural gas, or LNG, export facility in the world.

Trump also denied any prior knowledge of Israel attacking South Pars, pushing back against reports that the strike was coordinated with and approved by his administration.

In a social media post Wednesday night stateside, Trump said that “the United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen.”

Trump also urged Israel to end attacks on the South Pars gas field, unless Iran “unwisely” decides to attack Qatar. In that case, the U.S. will “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”

The attack on South Pars — the world’s largest natural gas reserve, shared between Iran and Qatar — marked the first time Israel has targeted Iranian natural gas production infrastructure since the conflict began on Feb. 28.

Iran has fired ballistic missiles at Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, with ​QatarEnergy saying the attack had caused “extensive damage” warranting deployment of emergency response teams to contain fires at the site. No casualties were reported.

Separately, Reuters reported Thursday that the U.S. government was considering deploying thousands of U.S. forces to the Middle East, raising the prospect of further escalation.

As tensions spiral, world leaders are scrambling to contain the Middle East conflict amid fears of deepening the turmoil in global energy markets.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Wednesday warned of a “crisis of the gravest order” if global supply chains continued to be disrupted, calling for a path toward de-escalation and a cessation of hostilities once U.S. and Israeli military objectives are achieved, according to local media reports.

Hello, this is Dylan writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

U.S. markets saw sharp declines on Wednesday, as inflation data and Fed signals added to market distress over Iran. There were some bullish AI signs, however.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday fell more than 750 points to hit a new low for the year, with the index on pace for its worst month since 2022. 

That came after the Federal Reserve held rates steady. Policy makers signaled inflation concerns and uncertain impacts amid the Iran war, dashing hopes for swift cuts. 

Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell says he will continue to serve as head of the central bank if his nominated successor, Kevin Warsh, is not confirmed by the time his term is up in May. 

The Fed will continue to monitor factors such as energy prices, with Iran missiles inflicting extensive damage on Qatar’s Ras Laffan natural gas facility on Wednesday, further threatening energy supply disruptions.

In an attempt to stabilize oil markets, President Donald Trump issued a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act — a longstanding shipping law that requires the transport of goods between U.S. ports to be conducted by American vessels.

Gas prices aren’t the only ones rising; memory chip prices are also surging amid intense AI demand. That saw American memory chipmaker Micron’s revenue almost tripling in the latest quarter.

Demand for artificial intelligence is also boosting companies in China, with tech giant Tencent reporting full-year revenue that topped analyst predictions, as it continues to ramp up AI investments.

In another bullish sign for AI in China, policymakers and tech companies have been pushing widespread adoption of the open-source AI agent OpenClaw. Amid market excitement for OpenClaw, shares of some of China’s “AI Tigers” surged on Wednesday. 

— Dylan Butts

Oil prices extended gains as Middle East remains on the boil with strikes on energy infrastructure in the region fanning fears of a supply crunch.

Qatar said Wednesday that Iranian missile strikes had damaged a key liquefied natural gas export facility. The action followed Tehran’s warning about attacking energy facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after Israel bombed a natural gas processing facility in Iran.

Brent crude May futures were 4% higher at $111.80 as of 8:45 p.m. ET, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for April rose over 3% to $99.47.

Iranian missile strikes inflicted “extensive damage” on Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest LNG export facility in the world, Qatar said.

Emergency crews were dispatched to tackle fires at Ras Laffan, QatarEnergy said in a social media post, adding there were no reported casualties. Qatar’s Interior Ministry later said the blaze had been brought under control.

Qatar’s foreign Ministry condemned the attack as a “dangerous escalation” and a “flagrant violation of sovereignty,” warning it threatened national security and regional stability. It added that Qatar reserves the right to respond under international law.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were on alert after Israel struck an Iranian natural gas processing facility.

Qatar had already suspended LNG production on March 2 following Iranian drone attacks on Ras Laffan and Mesaieed Industrial City. The country is the world’s second-largest LNG exporter after the U.S., accounting for nearly a fifth of global shipments, according to Kpler.

The escalating strikes on Middle East energy infrastructure risk deepening the supply shock triggered by the Iran war. Tanker movement through the Strait of Hormuz that was handling about 20% of global oil supplies, is largely blocked.

Gulf Oil’s senior energy advisor Tom Kloza warned that markets could enter an “all bets are off” scenario if the conflict spills beyond the Gulf and begins targeting energy infrastructure in other regions, such as Europe or the United States.

“Can you imagine the response in the world if [Iran] targeted something outside of the Persian Gulf, a refinery in Rotterdam or a facility somewhere in the United States, that’s when all bets are off and prices could go absolutely apocalyptic,” he said.

Such a shift would mark a break from contained geopolitical risk to a global supply shock, where traditional pricing models and risk assumptions no longer hold. In that environment, fears of widespread disruptions to refining and fuel distribution could trigger extreme volatility, with oil and gas prices surging sharply as traders price in worst-case scenarios and scramble to secure supplies.

“We’re moving from a supply chain problem to potentially a supply…