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→Helium
Disruption of the [[Strait of Hormuz]] did not produce one clean shortage; it produced a cascade through interlinked [[chemistry]] — gas into ammonia, ammonia and sulphur into finished fertilizer, export bans stacked on top of [[physical]] shortfalls.
Disruption of the [[Strait of Hormuz]] did not produce one clean shortage; it produced a cascade through interlinked [[chemistry]] — gas into ammonia, ammonia and sulphur into finished fertilizer, export bans stacked on top of [[physical]] shortfalls.
==Helium==
===Helium===
[[Qatar]] supplied roughly a third of the world's [[helium]], extracted as a byproduct co-located with [[LNG]] processing at [[Ras Laffan]]. The March 2026 strikes and the [[Strait of Hormuz]] closure took an estimated 30% of global helium production offline, with damage assessments suggesting some [[infrastructure]] could take years to fully restore. [[US]] distributors invoked ''force majeure'', began rationing, prioritized [[healthcare]] customers, and layered on surcharges; spot prices spiked.
Helium cannot be synthesized. It is a finite, non-renewable [[gas]] with no substitute in its critical uses: [[semiconductor]] fabrication, advanced chip packaging, [[MRI]] machines, and the sealed interior of every high-capacity [[hard drive]] at a moment when [[AI]]-driven [[data-center]] demand was surging. Seagate and Western Digital reported full-year allocations and 20–30% price increases; [[South Korea]]n chipmakers were reported to be running on roughly six months of inventory.
And every gram of Qatari helium leaves the country the same way: by ship, through the [[Strait of Hormuz]]. There is no pipeline alternative, no overland route, no bypass — helium's only exit from the world's second-largest production hub is that one 33-kilometer-wide waterway.
[[Category:Gulfs]]
[[Category:Gulfs]]