Key Points and Summary – Russia’s war in Ukraine has triggered an unexpected global shortage of TNT, a crucial explosive for military and civilian use.
-Having closed its last domestic plant in the 1980s, the U.S. became reliant on foreign suppliers.
-Now, with Russia and China halting exports and Ukrainian production disrupted by the war, those sources have vanished.
-The Pentagon is now dependent on a single, strained supplier in Poland.
-In response, the U.S. Army is building a new TNT factory in Kentucky, but it won’t be operational until 2028, highlighting a critical vulnerability in the Western defense industrial base.
Thanks to Russia’s War, the World Is Running Out of TNT
In over three years, Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused economic effects worldwide, from rising oil pricesto shifts in international trade.
Now, there’s another unexpected effect of the continuing war: A shortage of TNT.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that TNT, once cheap and widely available, has started to become scarce. In the 1980s, the US cited hazardous waste as the reason for closing its last TNT production facility, which led to production being driven overseas. Now, Russia and Ukraine (along with China and Poland) serve as two of the four leading producers of TNT.
The Times, citing “officials in the civilian blasting industry,” reported that sources of TNT have dried up, with Poland now the only remaining authorized supplier of TNT to the Pentagon. However, Poland has been supplying TNT to Ukraine, making it less available to the US. Russia and China, meanwhile, have stopped exporting the material to the United States.
This has put the US in a tough spot, especially since TNT isn’t only used for military purposes, but also for “blasting operations at the rock quarries,” which make the raw material for infrastructure projects.
The Return of TNT
The Army announced last November that the Joint Program Executive Office Armaments & Ammunition and US Army Contracting Command—Rock Island had awarded a $45 million contract to REPKON USA—Defense LLC, to “design, build, and commission a TNT production facility” in Graham, Kentucky.
Douglas Bush, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, in the Army’s announcement, called the contract reward “a major step forward in rebuilding our industrial base and ensuring we have the critical capabilities to support our warfighters.”
According to The Times, the facility is expected to open in 2028, although it’s anticipated to only provide TNT for military use.
The War Zone had reported on the TNT shortage back in May, speaking to Johnny Summers, vice president of energetics for Global Ordnance, about how the company is dealing with the global TNT shortage, which it attributed to wars in the Middle East, as well as the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Msta-S Russian Army. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Summers told the outlet that his company had a contract with Zarya in Ukraine to transport materials to the US, for both military and civilian use. But once the war was launched in early 2022, the factory was soon “behind enemy lines and is out of capacity production since.” The company has been trying to replace that ever since, he said.
“So we’re continuing to work with suppliers around the world to be able to locate TNT for our customers,” Summers told TWZ. He added that the company is often offered TNT from China from third-party brokers, but that they turn it down because they’re not allowed to do so. The company is therefore “looking at other sources in other countries.”
The View from Europe
Euractiv, in early July, reported on Europe’s efforts to procure TNT and noted that the continent now relies on a single factory in central Poland, which is the EU’s sole remaining supplier of the material.
However, Europe, like the US, is seeking to increase production and bring new facilities online. The Finnish Defence Ministryhas announced plans to open a new TNT production facility in Pori, Finland, at a cost of € 200 million.
Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen announced in January that the ministry had been studying the possibility since early 2024, either of importing TNT or building a facility of its own. Ultimately, the Finns decided to build the plant themselves.
Meanwhile, per Euractiv, Czech arms maker Czechoslovak Group (CSG) has been reopening mothballed plants from the Cold War era.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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