Macron speaks at the opening ceremony of a gunpowder plant, whose products will be used to manufacture shells for Ukraine
The plant will be able to produce 1,200 tonnes of gunpowder per year and is already secured with orders until 2030
French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken at the ceremony to open a new gunpowder plant in Bergerac, south-west of the country.
The plant is expected to start operating in 2025 and will produce powder charges for artillery shells, including those for French guns supplied to Ukraine.
Source. This was reported by AFP.
The shortage of gunpowder in Europe is currently slowing down the production of ammunition. One of the main components of gunpowder is nitrocellulose, up to 70% of which European manufacturers receive from China, the Financial Times wrote this week, citing industry representatives. They speculated that China may be deliberately not supplying Europe with enough of this material.
China supplies nitrocellulose to Russia, which has dramatically increased its ammunition production, and this was even discussed during a recent phone call between Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.
Owned by Eurenco, the plant will be able to produce 1,200 tonnes of gunpowder per year and is already secured with orders until 2030.
This site used to produce gunpowder in the past – it started in 1915 (during the First World War, which may explain the choice of a location far from the front), but production was stopped in 2007 due to lack of orders.
"These measures that are being taken here are urgent," Macron was quoted as saying by AFP, "We have to act quickly, press on and produce massively.
The French president also added that the new production should be environmentally sustainable.
Background. It was also reported that the French Thales plant will double the production of Ground Master air surveillance radars. Before the war in Ukraine, Thales produced about 10 radars, and now the company plans to double this number.
If you have read this article to the end, we hope that means it was useful for you.
We work to ensure that our journalistic and analytical work is of high quality, and we strive to perform it as competently as possible. This also requires financial independence. Support us for only UAH 196 per month.
Become a Mind subscriber for just USD 5 per month and support the development of independent business journalism!
You can unsubscribe at any time in your LIQPAY account or by sending us an email: [email protected]
