A month into the war in the Middle East, an unlikely shortage of an irreplaceable gas is looming over the global economy.

中东战事爆发一月有余，一种无可替代的气体正意外出现供应短缺，给全球经济蒙上阴影。

Helium is a gas that is odorless, colorless and lighter than air. It is also indispensable to manufacturing the computer chips that power artificial intelligence, an important driver of U.S. markets and economic growth.

氦气是一种无色无味、比空气轻的气体。对于制造驱动人工智能运行的计算机芯片而言，它是不可或缺的原料，而人工智能是推动美国市场与经济增长的核心引擎。

A byproduct of natural gas processing, helium is produced mainly in the United States and Qatar. When output in Qatar was halted this month, it cut off roughly a third of the global supply. The outlook worsened last week after Iran struck Qatar’s largest liquefied natural gas facility, damaging helium production lines that could take years to rebuild.

氦气是天然气加工的副产品，主产国为美国和卡塔尔。本月卡塔尔氦气生产中断，直接切断了全球约三分之一的供应量。上周伊朗袭击了卡塔尔最大的液化天然气设施，导致氦气生产线受损，重建可能需要数年时间，这使得前景进一步恶化。

Without helium, leading chip makers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, could struggle to keep production lines running, with cascading effects for semiconductor-powered devices from Apple’s iPhones to Nvidia’s A.I. servers.

一旦失去氦气，包括台积电、韩国三星电子与SK海力士在内的全球头部芯片制造商将难以维持生产线运转。这一冲击会沿着产业链层层传导，将对从苹果iPhone到英伟达AI服务器的各类半导体设备产生连锁反应。

Helium may be best known for keeping balloons afloat, but its industrial uses are far more consequential. As the coldest liquid on earth, it cools superconducting magnets in M.R.I. machines. A shortage could ripple far beyond chip making, affecting everything from scientific research to space travel.

氦气最为人熟知的用途或许是给气球充气使其升空，但其工业用途远比这更为重要。作为地球上温度最低的液体，液氦可为核磁共振成像仪(MRI)中的超导磁体提供冷却。氦气短缺的涟漪效应将远远超出芯片制造领域，波及从科研到航天航空的方方面面。

Semiconductor companies rely on helium at multiple stages of chip manufacturing. As intricate machines etch tiny circuits onto thin wafers of silicon, helium cools them from below to maintain the right temperature. After the wafers are washed with chemicals, helium is used to flush out toxic residue.

半导体企业在芯片制造的多个核心环节都离不开氦气：当精密设备将微小电路蚀刻到薄薄的硅片上时，氦气会从设备下方持续进行冷却，以维持适当的工作温度；晶圆经化学试剂清洗后，也需要用氦气冲洗清除有毒残留物。

台中港是台湾境内能够接收和储存液化天然气的三个港口之一。

Analysts said it could take weeks or months for the semiconductor industry to feel the shortage, with chip companies relying on stored helium and what was already en route to Asia when the war in the Middle East began.

分析师表示，半导体行业可能要数周乃至数月后才会切实感受到此次短缺的冲击，因为芯片公司目前仍依赖库存氦气以及中东战争爆发时已运往亚洲的氦气。。

But the question is whether existing supplies can bridge the gap while the entire global helium trade is reorganized to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that has been effectively closed to tankers since the U.S.-Israeli military campaign began last month.

但核心问题在于，当前的库存能否填补供应缺口，撑到全球氦气贸易完成全线重组、避开霍尔木兹海峡之时。自上月美以军事行动启动以来，这条狭窄的关键水道实质上已对运输船关闭。

About 200 specialized containers used to transport helium were stranded in the strait at the outset of the war, said Phil Kornbluth, a former gas industry executive and helium industry consultant. It could take months to reposition them, refill them and deliver the gas to customers.

前天然气行业高管、氦气行业顾问菲尔·科恩布卢斯称，战事爆发之初，约200个氦气专用运输集装箱滞留在霍尔木兹海峡。重新调配这些集装箱、重新装载并向客户交付气体可能需要数月时间。

With both logistics disrupted and production facilities damaged, analysts say it is only a matter of time until the helium shortage reaches the semiconductor industry.

分析师普遍认为，物流受阻叠加生产设施损毁，氦气短缺传导至半导体行业只是时间问题。

“There is a tsunami coming, but it’s still a thousand miles offshore,” Mr. Kornbluth said. “Right now, it’s still sunny on the beach.”

“一场海啸正在袭来，只是目前还在海岸的千里之外，”科恩布卢斯说。“此刻，海滩上依旧阳光明媚。”

TSMC said it was monitoring the situation closely and did not anticipate any significant impact at this time. Samsung and SK Hynix declined to comment.

台积电表示，正密切关注事态发展，目前预计不会对公司运营产生重大影响。三星与SK海力士则拒绝就此置评。

As chip makers race to meet the insatiable demand for artificial intelligence, their ability to do so will depend in part on whether gas suppliers can secure enough helium.

在芯片制造商竞相满足人工智能领域永无止境的需求之际，其产能能否跟上这一目标部分取决于气体供应商能否确保获得足够的氦气。

On Wednesday, in Taichung, a city on Taiwan’s west coast, France’s Air Liquide opened a factory near one of the country’s few ports equipped to handle and store liquefied natural gas and helium. Until a few weeks ago, about a third of Taiwan’s natural gas and most of its helium came from Qatar.

本周三，法国液化空气集团在台湾西海岸的台中市落成一座新工厂，选址紧邻台湾少数几个具备处理和储存液化天然气及氦气能力的港口之一。直至几周前，台湾约三分之一的天然气和绝大多数氦气进口货源都来自卡塔尔。

上周三，液化空气集团高管阿梅尔·勒维厄（中）及其他高管在台中发表了讲话。

Air Liquide, which supplies industrial gases to most major chip makers, was assessing customers’ stockpiles and working to ensure supply, while diversifying its helium sources, according to Armelle Levieux, a vice president at the company.

液化空气集团副总裁阿梅尔·勒维厄表示，作为全球多数头部芯片制造商的工业气体核心供应商，公司正在全面评估客户的库存情况，全力保障供应稳定，同时加速推进氦气来源的多元化。

But replacing lost supply is not as simple as buying more helium from the United States and stockpiling it at factories.

但填补此次的供应缺口绝非简单地从美国采购更多氦气、再储存在工厂里就能实现。

Like liquefied natural gas, helium needs to be transported in a special container that can keep it in liquid form. For helium, that means storage near absolute zero or about the temperature of outer space. At such temperatures, helium must be transported as a hazardous material, and only certain trucks and ships can carry it.

与液化天然气一样，氦气需要装在能使其保持液态的特殊容器中运输。对于氦气而言，这意味着储存环境必须接近绝对零度，约等于外太空的温度。在这种超低温条件下，氦气必须按危险品规范运输，只有具备资质的专用卡车和船舶能够承运。

The containers are insulated with liquid nitrogen, which absorbs heat during the journey. But only for so long. Once the nitrogen is depleted, the helium warms, expands rapidly into a gas and becomes dangerous to store.

这些容器内充有液氮，液氮在运输过程中会吸收热量，但隔热效果有明确的时限。一旦液氮耗尽，氦气就会升温，迅速膨胀成气体，储存风险会大幅攀升。

Chip makers “can only keep about a month and a half supply sitting around; otherwise, it starts heating up,” said Richard Brook, a former executive at Air Liquide and the chief executive of Garrison Ventures, a helium industry consultancy.

液化空气集团前高管、氦气行业咨询公司加里森风投首席执行官理查德·布鲁克表示，芯片制造商“只能储备约一个半月的氦气库存，否则，氦气就会开始升温”。

自2019年以来，液化空气集团已投资超过10亿欧元拓展其在台湾的业务。

As gas companies scramble to tap alternative sources and secure additional containers in the region, chip makers should have enough helium for several months, said Arisa Liu, a director at Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, a think tank.

台湾智库台湾经济研究院的一位总监刘佩真表示，在气体企业争相寻找替代气源、在亚太地区筹措更多专用运输容器的同时，芯片制造商的氦气库存预计还能支撑数月。

Chip makers in South Korea are especially exposed. About two-thirds of the country’s helium imports came from Qatar last year, according to Fitch Ratings. It relies heavily on the Middle East for more than a dozen types of chip-making materials and equipment, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

韩国的芯片制造商面临的风险尤为突出。惠誉评级的数据显示，2025年韩国约三分之二的氦气进口来自卡塔尔。韩国产业通商资源部的数据则显示，该国十几种芯片制造必需的材料和设备，都高度依赖中东地区供应。

South Korea’s semiconductor companies, which produce the memory chips crucial to A.I., are already struggling to make enough to keep up with booming global demand. Prices have already been driven higher.

韩国半导体企业生产的存储芯片是人工智能领域的至关重要的部件，目前这些企业本就难以满足全球激增的需求，价格因此已被推高。

When helium is scarce, it goes to whoever can pay the most. In past shortages, chip makers, with their deep pockets, have outbid the competition, leaving other sectors dependent on helium like pharmaceuticals and medical imaging short of supply.

氦气供应紧缺时，货源会优先流向出价最高的买家。在过往的全球氦气短缺危机中，资金雄厚的芯片制造商总能在竞价中胜出，导致制药、医学影像等其他同样依赖氦气的行业陷入供应不足的困境。

“The semiconductor industry will pay whatever they need to pay to get that helium,” Mr. Brook said. Since the cost of shutting down a chip factory would be enormous, “they’ll outbid anybody,” he said.

“为了拿到氦气，半导体行业愿意付出任何必要的成本，”布鲁克表示。由于芯片工厂停工的损失过于巨大，“他们会压倒任何竞争对手的报价，”他说。

液化空气集团位于台中的产业园区，这里是台湾西海岸为芯片产业供应原材料的密集工厂网络的一部分。