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Closing the Strait of Hormuz Disrupted 30% of the World's Helium. But There's a Silver Lining for 1 AI Chip Stock.

May 04, 2026 — 01:50 pm EDT

Written by

James Hires for

The Motley Fool->

Key Points

- Iranian missile strikes damaged Qatar's natural gas infrastructure, rendering South Korea with a serious shortage of the helium produced as a by-product of natural gas refining.

- South Korean memory producers Samsung and SK Hynix will be among the most affected, as they lack much manufacturing capacity outside of Asia.

- Micron has a large and expanding production base in the United States and was already having a banner year before the helium shortage, which will likely hurt its competitors more than Micron itself.

- 10 stocks we like better than Micron Technology ›

I'm willing to bet that the first thing you think of when I mention the word "helium" is balloons. And true, the lighter-than-air gas is what makes balloons float. But it's also one of the most important, yet also one of the most overlooked, gases for industrial use -- especially for semiconductor production.

Helium is the main coolant for the lithographs that etch the silicon patterns on semiconductor wafers. And the war in Iran has crippled the helium industry.

Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »

Yet the disruption might actually benefit one chip manufacturer more than it hurts it. I'm talking about the lone American memory chip producer, Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU).

Image source: Getty Images

Lighter than a feather

Let's start with the problem: The main source of helium is a by-product of natural gas refining.

Two countries are responsible for three-fourths of the world's helium: The United States produces 42.6% of it, and Qatar produces 33.2%.

But Qatar's production is down now, after an Iranian missile struck the world's largest natural gas refinery at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar. The strike took out 17% of Qatar's total liquefied natural gas capacity, and it could take up to five years to complete repairs.

That missile also disrupted a third of the world's helium supply, and the countries most impacted by Qatar's diminished output are in Asia, namely South Korea, which is home to Micron's two largest competitors, Samsung and SK Hynix.

South Korea imports 64.7% of its industrial helium from Qatar, through the Strait of Hormuz. So, even South Korea's diminished output is still bottled up in the Persian Gulf amid ongoing hostilities between the U.S. and Iran during ceasefire negotiations.

Other major chip-producing countries like Taiwan, China, and Japan are also affected, but Micron's only real competitors in memory hardware are both based in South Korea and do the bulk of their manufacturing there or in Asia more broadly. However, both Samsung and SK Hynix have or plan to have factories in the United States.

But essential for heavy industry

The helium shortage also impacts Micron. The company does most of its manufacturing in Asia. However, it owns two factories in the United States: one in its home city of Boise, Idaho, and another in Manassas, Virginia, with a third under construction in New York.

But Micron diversified its helium sourcing years ago, and its American factories should have little problem getting their hands on some, given they are located within the world's largest producer of the gas.

In 2024, Micron signed a deal with France's Air Liquide, a major industrial gas company. Per the deal, Air Liquide is spending $250 million to build an industrial gas production facility in Idaho, from which Micron will buy its gas for the foreseeable future.

Even with the factory incomplete at the time of writing, Air Liquide has been Micron's gas partner for 30 years. It also has a diversified network of sources for its helium, so it's not entirely reliant upon Qatari helium.

The company gets significant amounts of helium from American natural gas refineries, and the company has been sourcing more helium from its non-Qatari partners to make up for the diminished production from that country.

So, while helium price spikes affect everyone, Micron should be the least affected memory producer.

And it lines up a home run for Micron

All three major memory producers are up between 70% and 90% year to date in the midst of a global shortage of memory chips, driven by the demands of artificial intelligence (AI). Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Hynix, believes the memory shortage will persist until 2