Nearly two months after Iranian drone strikes disabled the Ras Laffan petrochemical complex in Qatar, the semiconductor industry is facing a widening material supply crisis that has now moved beyond helium shortages to include photoresists — the chemicals essential for etching electrical circuits onto chips.

According to the South China Morning Post, Japanese suppliers have warned Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix of looming disruptions in the supply of raw materials for photoresists: the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is cutting off access to naphtha — the petroleum feedstock used to produce photoresists and other specialized chemicals.

Double Blow to Material Supplies

The photoresist problems exacerbate an already acute helium shortage, which became a major concern in the semiconductor supply chain after QatarEnergy halted liquefied natural gas (LNG) production on March 2 and declared force majeure on deliveries. Qatar accounts for approximately 30% of the global volume of high-purity helium, and since helium is extracted exclusively as a byproduct of natural gas processing, the halt in LNG production simultaneously deprived the country of its helium capacities.

A Moody's Ratings report published this week warns that the disruption now threatens the development of AI infrastructure: the largest technology companies — Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta — are collectively investing about $650 billion in data center construction this year. "The AI economy runs on tokens, tokens run on GPUs, and GPUs depend on Qatari helium, Israeli bromine, and LNG tankers that pass through a single exit from the Persian Gulf that is only 21 miles wide," said David Pan, a director at Moody's and head of the AI industry practice.

According to Reuters, South Korean chipmakers entered this year with helium stocks that were expected to last at least until June; meanwhile, the global market was in a state of overproduction at the start of the conflict — in 2025, demand was about 170 million cubic meters against a supply of 184 million. Large underground storage facilities, invested in by industrial gas producers Linde and Air Liquide, serve as an additional buffer.

Cracks Beneath the Surface

However, these stockpiles mask a deep vulnerability. Liquid helium degrades in containers in about 45 days, and working stocks at most manufacturing plants consist of about one week's supply — meaning production depends on a continuous incoming flow rather than accumulated reserves. The fragile truce between the US and Iran reached on April 7 could have reduced pressure on shipping routes; however, Moody's warned that Qatari helium production will not resume immediately even in the event of a conflict de-escalation.

Meanwhile, the naphtha shortage is spreading through petrochemical supply chains across Asia. South Korea imports about 45 percent of its naphtha, with historically 77 percent coming from the Middle East — a supply channel that is now effectively blocked. In March, LG Chem imported 27,000 tons of Russian naphtha under a temporary waiver from US sanctions — the first such purchase in the country since the start of the conflict. This waiver expired on April 11, and the future prospects for Russian supplies remain uncertain.

The raw material shortage is expected to hit the production of advanced chips using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography the hardest, as this process places stringent requirements on photoresist quality. Phil Kornbluth, president of Kornbluth Helium Consulting, told AP News that the best-case scenario — the resumption of partial helium deliveries within weeks — looks "extremely unlikely" given the damage caused to the Ras Laffan infrastructure.