Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful French industrial gas supplier Air Liquide opened a new factory near the port of Taichung, Taiwan, on Wednesday, as the semiconductor industry faces a worsening helium shortage triggered by the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, the New York Times reported. Roughly a third of global helium production is offline after Iran struck Qatar's largest liquefied natural gas facility earlier this month, damaging helium production lines that could take years to rebuild. Helium is used at multiple stages of chip manufacturing, from cooling silicon wafers during lithography to flushing toxic chemical residue after cleaning. It’s also got no viable substitute in fabbing processes.…