GoKawiilWith the Strait of Hormuz effectively blockaded as part of the ongoing U.S.-Iran war, a number of shortages beyond gasoline are brewing: Helium, aluminum, and liquid natural gas (LNG) are all in increasingly short supply. This bottleneck could hit a wide range of industries, including chip manufacturing and data centers, as they are key components of day-to-day operation.
And with Iran now confirmed to have released sea mines into the Strait, its closure looks set to continue for a few more weeks, posing a grave threat to many global industries and the global economy in turn.
More than just oil
The first and most immediate impact of Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz was that oil prices went parabolic. With around 25% of the global shipbound-oil trade passing through the Strait, cutting it off from the global economy sent everyone scurrying for other sources, raising prices.
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But the Strait isn't just a transit route for oil tankers; some 11% of global seaborne trade by volume passes through it each year. Ships that transit the waterway are responsible for 20% of the global LNG market - the same gas that powers much of the world's energy infrastructure.
The Middle East is one of the world's largest exporters of refined aluminum, importing the unwrought material before processing and shipping it out. The Middle East is responsible for around 9% of global aluminum smelting capacity, states Reuters. And some regional suppliers have announced incoming shortages. Others have simply shut down refineries while the conflict is ongoing, but they will be hard to start back up again.
Copper is also impacted, partly because it flowed through the Strait and partly because Iran was a major producer. Copper was already in short supply because of explosive demand following the AI data center buildout announcements made in 2025.
The helium supply has been impacted by the war as well. Drone strikes knocked out QatarEnergy's Ras Laffan complex over a week ago, and it still hasn't come back online. Sherwood reports that Qatar alone is responsible for around 30% of global helium production, as a byproduct of its LNG production. With that supply no longer getting out, producers are shutting down their wells, which in turn cuts out helium supply lines.
And to top it all off, even shipping containers are in short supply. As ships get stuck waiting at the Strait for a chance to transit, they're not reaching their destinations and unloading their containers. The just-in-time nature of the global shipping industry means those containers now aren't available to ship something else back the other way, causing further disruption.
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