Only “a handful” of companies exist in Europe that make nitrocellulose, a vital ingredient for the propellant used in shells, Bloomberg laments.
The situation with explosives is no better, as the EU currently has only one “major TNT factory serving local production,” while the producers of “alternative agents” used in plastic explosives are “overwhelmed.”
The fact that the world’s largest producer of cotton, from which nitrocellulose is made, is China also does not sit well with the EU.
And while Germany’s top arms manufacturer Rheinmetall seeks to increase its gunpowder output by over 50% by 2028, this “won’t be enough,” the media outlet claims.
News of this development come as Europe stubbornly struggles to prolong the Ukrainian conflict by funneling arms and munitions to Ukraine’s military.
Last month, the EU sought to ship about 1.5 million artillery shells to Ukraine and when that scheme failed, set its sights on procuring €5 billion (about $5.41 billion) worth of ammunition for Ukrainian troops.
