The Pardubice-based company Explosia is planning an investment in the hundreds of millions of crowns to build a new production facility and technology for the production of spherical powders. They are used in pistols, submachine guns, and machine guns as cartridges. In recent years, the company for the production of explosives and ammunition has managed to invest around 100 million crowns in production. The company announced that there is currently a higher demand for military equipment due to the unstable situation in Europe.
Four years ago, it had a turnover of one billion crowns, but no profits, because it focused primarily on production volume, which brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. Explosia has therefore changed its strategy and makes more products with higher added value, with a higher margin. It was helped by the demand for smokeless powder that started in 2020, the company said.
“To this wave of higher demands on the civilian market, the worsening security situation in Europe was subsequently added, which caused an increase in demand of a military nature as well. The war in Ukraine also has an impact on the demand for military materials,” said company spokesman Martin Vencl.
The current situation increases the pressure to increase the production of large-caliber ammunition, which is one of the company’s main revenues. At the moment, Explosia is dealing with orders for 2024 for some products. It would therefore need to increase production, but it does not have enough workers and is unable to recruit new reliable employees.
Investments are also continuing in the company. For more than 100 million, he recently built a new production of large-caliber ammunition. The new spherical powder operation will cost hundreds of millions, the company said. “Explosia has been undervalued for a long time from the point of view of investment in production, if we want to be competitive, we have to modernize,” said vice-chairman of the board Pavel Mareček.
Explosia expects its gross profit to exceed 100 million crowns this year. It would be the best result in the history of the company as a separate joint stock company. Deliveries to Ukraine are also partly involved. The company’s turnover has been around a billion crowns in recent years.
The company Explosia has been operating in Pardubice since 1920. The modern owner was the Agrofert group, since 2002 the company is 100% owned by the state, the shares are held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The company includes the Research Institute of Industrial Chemistry.
Source: Explosia and CTK
