The most unexpected blow of the Iran war is not the price of oil. It’s the one with the chips

The Strait of Hormuz does not manufacture semiconductors or host data centers. However, its closure effective March 4 threatens to destabilize the heart of the global technology economy. Taiwan, which through TSMC manufactures around 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, runs on imported energy, and a large part of it flowed through that strait.

The connection between a conflict in the Middle East and the price of a GPU It is not metaphorical. It is totally physical.

Why is it important. What Trump has described as a “minor excursion” began on February 28 as a military intervention against the Iranian leadership and has led to the almost total closure of the passage that connects the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean.

20% of the world’s natural gas and 25% of the global oil usually pass through there. Now, practically nothing happens.

Between the lines. The problem for the chip industry is not oil, but two much less visible resources:

1. The LNG. The Middle East supplies 37% of the fuel that powers the Taiwanese electrical grid, and that electricity is what TSMC’s factories consume with an energy hunger that demands continuous supply.
2. And helium, which is even more delicate: it is essential in the process of photolithography and has no viable substitute.

Taiwan only has LNG reserves for 11 days without external imports. South Korea has 52; Japan, three weeks.

The contrast. South Korea and Japan have been building energy security buffers for years precisely because they know how much they depend on abroad. Taiwan, on the other hand, has historically prioritized cost over resilience: its LNG storage capacity is much lower than that of its neighbors, and that is now taking its toll.

It’s not just a matter of reserve days. The thing is that Samsung and SK Hynix operate in a country with more robust emergency infrastructure, while TSMC, the company on which practically the entire global technological ecosystem depends, turns out to be the most exposed of all.

Yes, but. Companies are not sitting idly by:

• TSMC has secured LNG supplies until mid-May.
• As for helium, Australia and the United States have the capacity to partially compensate for Qatar’s decline.

Morgan Stanley estimates that several additional shipments are already heading to the islandalthough Taiwan has probably paid a notable premium for them. That premium will most likely translate into a price increase.

The big question. The real risk is not the immediate cut, but how long this lasts.

Consumers expecting GPUs for gaming They will be the last in line.

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Featured image | Xataka