Geopolitics could choke supply inputs
A report warned that a prolonged Iran conflict — and a potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz — could disrupt Asia’s tech industry by curbing LNG and helium supplies that fabs and data centres rely on. The piece links geopolitical risk to tangible material inputs for semiconductor manufacturing and data‑centre expansion. (scmp.com)
A wider Iran conflict could hit Asia’s tech industry through two basic inputs: fuel for electricity and helium for chipmaking. (eia.gov) The Strait of Hormuz carried about 20% of global liquefied natural gas trade in 2024, almost all of it from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The United States Energy Information Administration estimated that 83% of the liquefied natural gas moving through the strait went to Asian markets. (eia.gov) That matters for chip hubs because fabs and data centres run on steady power, and parts of Asia lean heavily on imported gas. Taiwan Power said thermal power made up 81.3% of its electricity generation in 2025, while the United States Energy Information Administration said Taiwan closed its last operating nuclear plant in 2025 and is targeting more gas in its power mix by 2030. (taipower.com.tw) (eia.gov) Helium is the less visible risk. The United States Geological Survey said helium is used in “controlled atmospheres, fiber optics, and semiconductors,” and Qatar supplied 40% of United States helium imports from 2020 through 2023. (pubs.usgs.gov) Qatar’s helium is tied to its gas system because the gas is recovered during liquefied natural gas processing. After Iranian missile strikes on March 19, Ras Laffan, Qatar’s main liquefied natural gas hub, went offline, and consultancy founder Anish Kapadia told AGBI that “there is no helium being produced if LNG production is shut.” (agbi.com) The supply shock reaches chip plants first because helium helps keep manufacturing lines clean and stable. The South China Morning Post reported that helium is used to prevent contamination and cool components during semiconductor manufacturing, linking damage at Qatar’s gas facilities to pressure on Asian chipmakers. (scmp.com) The data-centre link is more indirect but still real. Seagate said its helium-filled hard drives were built for “a growing cloud-based data center market,” and Western Digital said helium-sealed drives are used in large-scale cloud storage because they cut drag, power use and heat. (seagate.com) (blog.westerndigital.com) Markets have treated Hormuz as an energy chokepoint for years, but the current warning is narrower and more concrete: a shipping lane can squeeze chip output without touching silicon itself. When gas cargoes and helium cargoes share the same geopolitical bottleneck, a regional war can show up as slower fab throughput and delayed data-centre buildouts in Asia. (eia.gov) (scmp.com)
