⏱️ 4Mins Read
The Middle East conflict has already created a global helium crisis. Now, a second, less visible, disruption of the integral element ‘bromine’ that sits inside every circuit board on the planet is emerging.
📌 Executive Brief
- The global electronics industry faces a severe crisis as the Middle East conflict threatens the supply of bromine, an essential element used in every circuit board.
- Advanced memory chips driving the AI boom rely heavily on bromine derivatives, leaving major tech companies scrambling to audit their highly vulnerable inventories.
- This impending supply chain disruption is expected to trigger significant price hikes across consumer electronics
What was bromine used for?
A potential bromine crisis, driven by the same Middle East tensions, threatens to paralyze the entire global electronics industry.
Just as helium has no viable substitute in semiconductor manufacturing, every circuit board installed in a smartphone, a laptop, a car dashboard, an AI server, or a gaming console relies on a chemical compound derived from bromine to prevent it from catching fire.
The Hidden Anchor in the Tech Supply Chain
Element 35 on the periodic table, bromine is a heavy, reddish-brown liquid, and its most commercially significant derivative in the electronics industry is tetrabromobisphenol A, or TBBPA, the most widely used brominated flame retardant.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the leading source of imports of bromine and bromide compounds is Israel, followed by Jordan.
Jordan is not in a combat zone, but it accounts for only 6% of imports, while 89% of bromine and bromide compounds come from Israel, which has actively been engaged in the Middle East crisis since February 28, 2026.
A Trillion-Dollar Industry on Edge
Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, says: “If this Iran situation lasts until May, then we have some supply chain issues around critical minerals with the AI buildout. If it’s done by mid-April, then it’s a rounding error issue.”
South Korea’s industry ministry has confirmed that the country depends heavily on the Middle East for at least 14 items used in semiconductor supply chains, including bromine, and 90% of the bromine supply comes from Israel.
This is not a casual observation from a think tank. It is a government supply chain alert from a country producing the majority of the world’s memory chips – the DRAM and HBM that power every AI server, every smartphone, and an increasing share of the automotive industry.
The bromine-based compounds—hydrogen bromide, or HBr—are used in advanced chips; hence, a disruption in Middle Eastern bromine supply would tighten the supply-demand balance for niche process chemistries in advanced chip nodes, according to semiconductor supply chain analysts, who also warn that bromine is the next helium.
Ray Wang, a memory analyst at SemiAnalysis, explained that while current impacts remain contained, an extended regional conflict could seriously hamper chipmakers’ ability to source essential materials like helium and bromine. Such disruptions could force manufacturers to scramble for alternative supply sources or face operational constraints.
Buffer Time vs. Existential Threat
Bromine has a relatively longer shelf life than helium, giving the bromine supply chain more buffer time. The chipmakers and circuit board manufacturers typically maintain three to six months of bromine-derivative inventory, compared to helium stockpiles that can run out in weeks. If the bromine crisis intensifies, it will practically paralyze a trillion-dollar industry. The pressure to diversify is now existential. Geopolitical risk is no longer a footnote in semiconductor investment models. It is the headline.
Although the United States, China, and Ukraine are all bromine producers, their combined capacity represents only a fraction of global demand. The U.S. produced approximately 120,000 metric tons annually in recent years, primarily from Arkansas brine deposits. China produces additional quantities from domestic sources. But the combined supply outside of Israel and Jordan is not enough to be considered as an alternate bromine supply chain. Moreover, new suppliers for the purity grades require testing and certification, which will take months.
According to the Center on Global Energy Policy, Russia’s helium exports to China are up by 60 percent YoY in 2025, accelerating China’s sourcing diversification away from U.S.-aligned suppliers. The same dynamic applies to bromine. If Israeli supply is disrupted, Chinese chip manufacturers who already produce a substantial share of mature-node semiconductors have both the incentive and the relationships to secure alternative Chinese-domestic or Russian supply ahead of Western competitors.
Samsung, SK Hynix, TSMC, and the circuit board manufacturers supplying Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon should be quietly auditing their bromine-derivative inventories, accelerating supplier qualification in the U.S. and non-regional markets, and modeling what a three-month Israeli supply disruption would do to their production schedules.
The Ripple Effect: From Silicon to the Consumer
Step back from the bromine story, and the contours of a broader pattern emerge. The semiconductor supply chain was built on efficiency, just-in-time sourcing, geographically concentrated production, and cheap inputs from stable corridors. What the Iran war has exposed is not a new vulnerability. It is an old one, finally impossible to ignore.
The technology industry is deeply dependent on the Middle East because of helium and LNG from Qatar, bromine from Israel and Jordan, energy from the Gulf, and aluminum from the region. All of them are now simultaneously under pressure due to geopolitical tensions.
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International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates the average selling price of smartphones will rise 10-15% this year, while manufacturers will no longer be able to produce phones priced below $100.
The situation for laptops and enterprise hardware is even more aggressive. HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS have all issued warnings regarding “contract resets” heading into the second half of 2026. PC prices could rise by 8% in 2026, due to memory chip shortages and energy costs. Bromine has not yet entered the conversation, but it likely will only do so when it is too late for a story about prevention rather than damage.
The next time you hold your phone, consider what is inside it: copper, silicon, rare earths, lithium, and an element extracted from a country—Israel—that dragged the whole world into multiple crises.
