For decades, TNT was one of the most reliable explosives in the United States — used in military weapons, commercial mining, and road building. But the war in Ukraine has upended that supply chain, creating a global shortage that is starting to affect both American defense production and construction, The New York Times reported Monday.
Once plentiful and cheap at about 50 cents per pound, TNT — or trinitrotoluene — was produced by the millions of tons for both world wars and through the Cold War. But production in the United States ended in the mid-1980s over environmental concerns. Since then, Washington has relied on foreign suppliers, primarily in China, Russia, Poland, and Ukraine.
That pipeline has now dried up.
According to industry insiders, Russia and China have halted exports to the U.S., while Poland — once the Pentagon's sole authorized supplier — is diverting most of its production to Ukraine's military. At the same time, the U.S. has stopped recycling TNT from decommissioned munitions, choosing to hold on to aging weapons since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Times reported.
The impact is being felt at home. U.S. weapons manufacturers are facing pressure, while rock quarries that supply raw materials for infrastructure projects are struggling to secure explosives.
"The world as we know it does not exist without industrial explosives," Clark Mica, head of an explosives trade group, told the Times. He warned that shortages could drive up construction costs and slow major projects.
In response, Congress in 2024 authorized a $435 million Army-run TNT plant in Kentucky, expected to open in 2028. But that plant will serve only military needs, with no plans to ease shortages in private industry.
Companies are now exploring alternatives, including PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate), which is already manufactured at several U.S. plants. The Pentagon has also signaled it may have secured other TNT suppliers beyond Poland, though details remain scarce, according to the report.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.