Faced with the depletion of stocks, France will resume producing gunpowder. The industrialist Eurenco, which produces explosives and powders for artillery ammunition, will relocate to Bergerac (Dordogne) the production of propellant powder for shells, announced Wednesday the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu.
“We have decided to relocate a large-caliber powder production capacity to Bergerac on a fairly short horizon (…) with a target of 1,200 tonnes of powder per year”, declared the minister during a press conference, justifying the decision by the consequences of the war in Ukraine, among others.
A reflection in progress since the Covid
Heir to the National Powders and Explosives Company, Eurenco had in the past “rationalized its industrial tool by relocating this production to its Swedish site while retaining ownership of the technological know-how in France”, noted a parliamentary report on the stocks of ammunition released last week.
Powder was also purchased from Italian, German and Swiss suppliers. If the company had been thinking about it since the Covid crisis, “the trigger for the investment was the consumption of stocks, not only in France but everywhere in Europe”, according to the CEO of Eurenco, Thierry Francou. Many countries indeed provide 155 mm shells to Ukraine to face the Russian invasion, emptying their already often very weak stocks.
“War Economy”
In France, the president called for entering into a “war economy”, in order to push manufacturers to increase their capacities to deliver more and more quickly military equipment. Export, which constitutes two-thirds of Eurenco’s turnover, “will be sustained for the next ten years. Today I have firm orders until 2027”, affirmed the CEO, noting that “what makes it possible to maintain a sovereign sector is export”. The implementation of this plant is scheduled for the first half of 2025. The investment amounts to 60 million euros, 50 of which will be financed by the company.