"We have decided to relocate a large-caliber powder production capacity to Bergerac (Dordogne) in a relatively short timeframe […] with a target of 1,200 tons of powder per year," said Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu during a press conference.
Many countries are supplying 155mm shells to Ukraine, depleting their already often thin stocks. In France, President Emmanuel Macron has called for entering a "war economy," urging industries to produce more and faster, especially the highly demanded Caesar cannons. "There is no scenario in which we should not accelerate and secure ammunition production. This is true because Ukraine will have significant needs in the coming weeks and months or to replenish the army's stocks," estimated Sébastien Lecornu.
The NATO Secretary General himself expressed concern last week that Ukraine is consuming ammunition at a rate exceeding the production capacity of NATO countries.
Heir to the National Society of Powders and Explosives (SNPE), the public company Eurenco will invest 60 million euros, of which 50 will be self-financed, at its Bergerac site. The industrialist currently produces this powder in Sweden and purchases it from Italian, German, and Swiss suppliers.
Although the company had been considering this since the pandemic, "the trigger for the investment was the consumption of stocks, not only in France but throughout Europe," according to Eurenco CEO Thierry Francou. Export, which accounts for two-thirds of Eurenco's revenue, "will be supported for the next ten years. Today, I have firm orders until 2027," said the CEO, noting that "what allows maintaining a sovereign supply chain is export."
95,000 "complete rounds"
The new factory is expected to open in the first half of 2025. The 1,200 tons of propellant powder will allow Eurenco to manufacture 500,000 modular charges, or 95,000 "complete rounds," he detailed…