Qatar's helium supply halves, putting pressure on the semiconductor and medical industries; lithography machines and innovative drug sectors surge.

On March 27, the lithography equipment concept surged. Taikang Technology (603738.SH) hit its first daily limit order in the afternoon, Tengjing Technology (688195.SH) touched the daily limit, Microchip Technologies (300456.SZ) and Kemet Gas (002549.SZ) rose by more than 7%, while Pioneer Jingke (688605.SH) and Jiangfeng Electronics (300666.SZ) rose by nearly 9%.

That day, the innovative drugs sector also saw a broad-based blowout rally. Last year’s 10x “bull stock” Shutai Shen (300204.SZ) hit the long-awaited “20CM” daily limit order in the afternoon. In addition, Menovo Pharmaceutical (603538.SH) achieved 6 daily limit orders in 11 days, while Double-rail Pharmaceutical (002038.SZ), Lianhuan Pharmaceutical (600513.SH), Wanbangde (002082.SZ), Zhaoyan New Pharmaceuticals (603127.SH), Sinopharm (002294.SZ), Aosaikang (002755.SZ), Zhaoyan New Pharmaceuticals (603127.SH), Kanghong Pharmaceutical (002773.SZ), and others all saw multiple daily limit orders.

On the news front, a disruption to Qatar’s energy infrastructure has caused a helium supply interruption, which is being passed through the industrial chain to the global semiconductor and medical industries. Bloomberg reported earlier that on March 17, one of the largest packaged gas distributors in the United States, AirGas, officially announced that, due to force majeure events, it expects to cut some customers’ monthly helium supply to 50% of normal levels, and add a surcharge of $13.50 per 100 cubic feet.

AirGas is a subsidiary of the French Air Liquide Group (Air Liquide SA), and one of the largest packaged gas distributors in the United States. This force majeure announcement indicates that the Qatar capacity shock has officially moved from upstream into downstream distribution, and that the supply-chain disruption has entered a substantive impact stage from the warning stage.

According to information, Qatar is the world’s most important helium supplier, accounting for about one-third of global supply. Iran’s attacks on the region’s energy infrastructure have caused Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production to come to a standstill, and LNG production is a key upstream link for helium extraction. Qatar National Oil and Gas Company then issued a warning, saying there is a risk that helium exports could collapse.

Northeast Securities said it is firmly optimistic about the long-term allocation value of the electronic gases sector under the resonance of supply and demand. On the demand side, the industry’s market size is expected to enter a nonlinear expansion channel; on the supply side, changes in the external environment are forcing downstream manufacturers to accelerate the reshaping of their supply chains. Huatai Securities also noted that, along with capacity expansion in China’s storage facilities and wafer fabs, and with gas supply constrained amid geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, the momentum for the electronic gases industry in China in 2026 is expected to accelerate.

Postal Securities said that domestically developed innovative drugs are gradually catching up to— and even surpassing—Europe and the United States in the early R&D stage; in the medium term, they will certainly enter a harvest period, and it continues to look favorably on investment opportunities in the sector. Morgan Stanley believes that China’s pharmaceutical innovation is accelerating internationally: multinational pharmaceutical companies are stepping up their deployment of locally innovative assets, and the sector’s cash flow and valuation framework will continue to be reshaped. The sector is currently in a left-side allocation window.