The explosives shortage may drive up phone, energy and home prices
According to the report, the United States is facing a shortage of TNT, the high explosive required in the production of commercial explosive products such as bulk boosters commonly used in the mining and construction industries. Explosives Makers Instituteor select IME.
“From your cell phone to your laptop, to the roads you drive to work, to the homes you live in, almost everything you use on a daily basis started with commercial explosives,” said IME President Clark Mica.
The United States has been dependent on foreign TNT suppliers since the mid-1980s, when the last domestic TNT plant was largely shut down due to increasingly stringent environmental regulations. TNT production creates hazardous waste that poses a risk to human health. Environmental Protection Agency.
But the war in Ukraine is straining the global defense supply chain.
“It was actually China and Russia that sold TNT directly to the U.S. until a few years ago. Then the U.S. had to rely a lot on Poland,” said James Marques, senior aerospace, defense and security analyst at GlobalData. “The fact is that the Polish company Nitro-Chem is absolutely inundated with orders at the moment and most of its products are going across the border to Ukraine.”
TNT, which industry insiders say cost 50 cents per pound in the early 2000s, can now cost more than $20 per pound. President Donald Trump’s 10 percent base tariffs also make it more expensive to import TNT, which the United States currently sources from Turkey, Vietnam, Australia, India and others.
“That means more expensive construction projects, more expensive infrastructure projects, more expensive energy production—all things that our economy depends on to continue growing,” Mica said.
In response to the TNT shortage, Congress awarded defense manufacturer Repkon USA a $435 million contract to design, build and commission an Army-operated TNT facility in Graham, Kentucky.
“Today marks the beginning of the return of TNT production to American soil. This history-making initiative underscores our commitment to strengthening our national security and reducing dependence on foreign sources for critical materials,” Maj. Gen. John T. Reim said at a news conference last November.
However, the facility is not expected to become operational until 2028.
“We will need to find materials to meet the demand in the short term,” Mica said.
Other high explosives such as RDX, which would normally be used as an alternative to TNT, are also in short supply.
“Without these materials, you cannot extract the critical minerals used to make cell phones. You cannot extract the aggregates used in road-based materials. On the energy side, we use commercial explosives in energy production,” Mica said.
watch video See above to learn more about the global TNT shortage and what’s at stake for consumers.
