The helium shortage highlighting hidden risks in global chip supply chains

While increased global attention has focused on oil and gas markets amid energy supply chain volatility, a quieter yet significant constraint has emerged around helium availability.

Helium is a critical input for semiconductor manufacturing and advanced technologies, yet its supply is closely linked to natural gas processing and LNG infrastructure. Recent supply interruptions have highlighted how tightly global technology production is connected to energy systems, particularly those associated with gas extraction and liquefaction.

For energy-producing nations such as Australia, this situation underscores both near-term exposure to global supply chain disruption and longer-term opportunities to unlock additional value from existing gas resources.

Recent developments have underscored how global energy and technology supply chains are shaped by a small number of highly concentrated transport corridors. Whether such routes remain open or experience periods of disruption, the economic consequences are rarely resolved at the moment access stabilises. Changes to trade flows, pricing, risk perception and investment behaviour can persist well beyond any immediate supply interruption.

Why helium matters to the digital economy

Helium is not produced as a standalone commodity but recovered as a by‑product of natural gas processing, meaning global supply is concentrated in a small number of gas and LNG facilities. When these operations face disruption, supply can tighten quickly and is difficult to replace due to specialised purification and transport requirements.

The chips produced using helium underpin many of the systems people rely on every day. Artificial intelligence tools, cloud services, and large-scale data centres require advanced semiconductors to operate reliably and at scale. These chips support everything from online services and digital workplaces to education platforms, healthcare systems, logistics networks and financial services.

As societies become more digitally connected, demand for computing power continues to grow, increasing reliance on stable chip supply. Any disruption to the production of these semiconductors can therefore have broader social consequences, including delays to digital services, constraints on infrastructure expansion, and rising costs passed through to consumers and businesses. In this way, helium availability has become an indirect but increasingly important factor in maintaining the digital systems that underpin modern economic and social activity.

Flow-on effects across global supply chains

While helium represents a small proportion of overall semiconductor manufacturing costs, its importance is structural rather than incidental, which is why a shortage in the availability of helium will directly affect semiconductor chip supply chains. Global chip supply chains are highly integrated, internationally distributed, and often operate with limited inventory buffers, leaving little tolerance for disruptions in critical inputs. Prolonged helium shortages therefore have the potential to delay production across multiple sectors, including electronics, industrial systems, and automotive manufacturing, with impacts often emerging through extended lead times and uneven availability rather than complete stoppages.

The impact on supply chains is not confined to periods of visible disruption. Even when key routes remain accessible, the cumulative effects of earlier uncertainty, including tightening inventories, rerouted logistics and heightened risk sensitivity, can continue to constrain supply and extend lead times across globally integrated industries.

Helium’s use beyond semiconductors, particularly in healthcare and research applications including magnetic resonance imaging systems, further constrains the ability to redirect supply without broader economic consequences. High supplier concentration and long qualification timelines mean manufacturers cannot easily or quickly switch sources, increasing exposure for regions heavily reliant on imported helium. Parts of North Asia with large semiconductor manufacturing bases are particularly vulnerable, given their dependence on stable, cross‑border supply flows to support continuous production.

What this means for Australia’s natural resources and energy sector

From an Australian perspective, the emergence of helium as a supply constraint highlights both near‑term risks and longer‑term opportunities across the energy value chain. There has been an increasing focus on the role that Australia can play, and needs to play, in sourcing and processing critical metals to diversify supply chains. Helium is not currently part of that focus, but Australia can play a role for an equally important element.

Australia remains exposed to global supply disruptions despite its significant natural gas production. Domestic helium output is currently limited because the majority of Australian gas fields have very low helium content with helium being vented. This means that Australian industries reliant on advanced semiconductors, healthcare equipment and digital infrastructure remain dependent on international supply chains for an increasingly critical input. Prolonged supply tightness has the potential to flow through to higher costs, delayed project timelines and downstream impacts on productivity across the broader economy.

At the same time, the situation underscores an opportunity for the natural resources and energy sector. Australia has one of the world’s largest LNG industries and significant known helium endowments contained within natural gas reservoirs. Helium recovery can be integrated into LNG processing using new and proven technologies already deployed globally, provided the right commercial and regulatory conditions are in place.

While Australia is unlikely to replace established suppliers in the near term, incremental investment could allow domestic producers to play a more meaningful role in supplying stable helium volumes to global markets. Over time, this could enhance the resilience of regional supply chains, unlock additional value from existing gas assets and support broader economic diversification, particularly across the Asia–Pacific region.

Considerations for energy producers and investors

For participants across the natural resources and energy sector, the current environment sharpens focus on several commercial and investment considerations. Helium represents a high-value by-product with the potential to enhance overall gas project economics, particularly where existing LNG and gas assets can support diversification into specialty gases and improved value capture from established infrastructure.

At the same time, downstream industries are becoming increasingly sensitive to interruptions in upstream energy‑linked inputs, placing greater emphasis on reliability and long‑term supply certainty. Sustained confidence in helium availability will therefore be an important factor in supporting further private investment in separation, purification and supporting infrastructure.

Looking ahead

The current helium constraint serves as a reminder that energy markets underpin far more than power generation and fuel supply. Experience from global energy markets suggests that recovery is rarely binary. Greater stability in trade routes does not immediately unwind the structural pressures created by concentrated supply, limited redundancy and heightened risk awareness. As a result, input‑dependent sectors can continue to face cost volatility and availability constraints even during periods of relative operational stability. They are increasingly integral to advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and technology ecosystems.

For Australia, the challenge is not only managing exposure to global supply chain disruption but also identifying how existing energy capabilities can support broader economic resilience. While helium is a niche product by volume, its role in global supply chains makes it a material consideration for the Natural Resources and Energy sector in the years ahead.

How BDO can help

BDO’s natural resource and energy team works with organisations across the sector to understand exposure to evolving supply‑chain risks, assess opportunities to unlock additional value from existing gas assets, and improve long‑term resilience. Combining sector expertise with advisory, transaction, tax and infrastructure capabilities, we help producers and investors assess diversification, investment readiness and the commercial impact of emerging inputs such as helium.

Contact us to learn how BDO can support your investment and diversification strategy.