Gulf War Drives up Prices of Fertilisers, Sugar, Aluminium and Helium

Gulf War drives up prices of fertilisers, sugar, aluminium and helium

The Iran conflict has pushed urea prices up 35%, driven aluminium to a four-year high and disrupted global helium supply from Qatar's Ras Laffan, as Hormuz disruptions spread commodity price shocks far beyond oil and gas.

Memory prices could leap even higher as the supply of helium, crucial to making chips, is now impacted by the conflict in the Middle East

There's no quick fix to getting hold of ultra-pure helium, either.

Energy prices, material access threaten semiconductor demand

SK Hynix Inc. 12-layer HBM3E memory chips, front, and a LPDDR5X CAMM2 memory module arranged at the company’s office in Seongnam, South Korea, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images A prolonged conflict in the Middle East could impact the semiconductor industry’s access to key materials while rising costs could hit demand for chips that have been central to the artificial intelligence boom, analysts warned. The U.S…

Middle East conflict impacts semiconductor supply

Brad Gastwirth discusses semiconductor supply chain risks, including energy prices, chipmaking materials, and AI data center investments.

CIMB sees minimal direct impact on regional tech sector from Middle East war

CIMB Securities said Tuesday it believes the ongoing conflict in the Middle East will have minimal direct impact on the regional tech sector given the region’s limited semiconductor manufacturing footprint. “That said, Israel remains an important semiconductor research and development (R&D) hub for major global technology players, and any escalation could indirectly affect innovation pipelines,” the research house said in a note. CIMB opined tha…