Synthesia will significantly increase the production of the key raw material for the production of gunpowder. Even so, it can hardly satisfy the demand

PArdubice chemist Synthesia, which was recently bought by businessman Karel Pražák’s Kaprain group, plans to increase the annual production of nitrocellulose, which is a key raw material for the production of gunpowder, by 16 percent. It now produces about 6,000 tons of nitrocellulose per year. The company has therefore started investing in increasing production capacity, the costs are estimated at hundreds of millions to a billion crowns. Jan Kadaník, director of Kaprain’s chemical division, told e15.

“We have already started the investment, we expect its completion in 2026. We estimate the total investment costs to be higher than hundreds of millions of crowns, but it is possible that they will exceed the billion mark,” Kadaník told e15.

Part of the nitrocellulose produced by Synthesia is currently going to the neighboring state-owned company Explosia, which produces gunpowder and other explosives and which plans to invest up to two billion crowns by 2026 to expand its capacities. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, both companies have not been able to satisfy the demand of gunsmiths. “Demand is very strong in the Czech Republic and internationally, so it is not a problem to sell out our entire production,” said Kadaník. According to an earlier statement by the head of the Defense and Arms Industry Association, Jiří Hynek, only three significant producers of nitrocellulose operate in Europe – in France, Serbia and the Czech Republic. And Synthesia, according to Hynk, is the largest producer of nitrocellulose for the weapons industry.

In addition to expanding production, Synthesia is also preparing to move away from the coal it needs to generate energy. It already partially uses wood chips and plans to replace coal with gas. According to Kadaník, moving away from coal will cost the Kaprain group billions of crowns for all its chemical companies. The chemical part of Kaprain, whose annual turnover is over 15 billion crowns, also includes Spolchemie and the Slovak company Fortischem.

In addition to nitrocellulose, Synthesia Pardubice also produces products for the coatings and printing inks or dyes industries for the textile, paper and leather industries. The year before last, it increased profit after taxation by 19 million to 183 million crowns. Chemist Kaprain was recently taken over from the trust funds of former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO).