French industrial gas supplier Air Liquide inaugurated a new factory in Taichung, Taiwan, on Wednesday, amidst a severe helium shortage impacting the global semiconductor industry. The crisis stems from an Iranian strike on Qatar's largest liquefied natural gas facility, which damaged helium production lines and has taken approximately a third of global helium output offline. This disruption, coupled with around 200 specialized helium containers stranded near the Strait of Hormuz due to the U.S.-Iran conflict, threatens to prolong the shortage, with repositioning and delivery potentially taking months. Helium is indispensable for cooling silicon wafers and flushing chemical residue during chip manufacturing, with no viable substitutes. Chipmakers like TSMC in Taiwan have about six weeks of supply, while South Korean manufacturers are particularly vulnerable due to their heavy reliance on Qatari helium.