China Halts Ammo Supply to Belgian Arms Maker FN Herstal

China has stopped supplying nitrocellulose — a critical component known as “shooting cotton” used in ammunition propellants — to Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal, just as its parent company FN Browning Group posted a historic record of over €1 billion in sales. The twin developments, reported on June 5 by De Morgen and La Libre Belgique, lay bare a stark paradox: booming demand for European arms colliding with critical vulnerabilities in the supply chains that sustain them.

A Tale of Two Headlines

On the surface, the news could hardly be more contrasting. FN Browning Group, the Walloon-region-owned parent company of FN Herstal, reported that it crossed the billion-euro revenue threshold for the first time in 2025, with sales reaching €1.006 billion. The Belgian subsidiary FN Herstal alone posted a record €422 million in revenue, driven primarily by exports. The Walloon Region, which owns 100% of FN Browning, will receive a €25 million dividend from the results.

Yet beneath that financial triumph lies a growing strategic headache. China, one of the world’s largest producers of nitrocellulose, has halted supplies of the compound to FN Herstal. Nitrocellulose is a fundamental ingredient in modern smokeless gunpowder and propellants — without it, ammunition production grinds to a halt.

The Nitrocellulose Bottleneck

China has been progressively restricting exports of key ammunition components since 2024, including nitrocellulose and antimony. The restrictions are widely seen as a geopolitical lever, leveraging Beijing’s dominant position in the production of these critical materials. In March 2025, the French military reported that China’s “unexpected interruption” of gunpowder raw material supplies was already disrupting artillery shell production across Europe.

FN Herstal has taken steps to mitigate the risk. In June 2025, the company signed a significant deal with French explosives specialist Eurenco at the Paris Air Forum, securing access to European-sourced powders and explosives. But whether European producers can fully replace Chinese supply volumes remains an open question.

Record Results, Strategic Ambition

The financial results tell the story of a company riding the wave of European rearmament. FN Browning’s EBITDA reached €138 million, with margins improving from 12% to 14%. The group invested €80 million to increase production capacity and digitalize operations, and completed the acquisition of French company Sofisport in September 2025 — described as “the most important transaction ever” for the group. Sofisport generated approximately €400 million in revenue in 2025.

FN Browning also announced a €100 million investment to build a new ammunition factory in Herstal, creating approximately 100 jobs. Just days before the supply halt was reported, the company unveiled the FN Arka, a new AR-15-type assault rifle aimed at military and law enforcement customers.

The Paradox at the Heart of European Defense

Julien Compère, CEO of FN Browning, said the record results “confirm the solidity of the group’s industrial foundations.” Pierre-Yves Jeholet, Walloon Vice-President and Minister of Economy, called the billion-euro milestone “the result of a clear strategic choice” in a context where “having a strong and innovative defense industry is a necessity.”

But the supply disruption underscores a fundamental vulnerability: even as European nations race to rearm in response to the war in Ukraine and uncertainty over US security guarantees, they remain dependent on Chinese raw materials for the very ammunition their armed forces need. The group operates in nine NATO countries, employs over 4,100 people, and has more than twenty production sites — all potentially exposed to disruptions in the supply of a single Chinese-controlled input.

What to Watch For

The key question now is how long FN Herstal can maintain production with existing stockpiles, and whether European alternatives can fill the gap. The Eurenco partnership provides a lifeline, but scaling up European nitrocellulose production to meet wartime demand will take time and investment. The Belgian government, as the sole shareholder of FN Browning through the Walloon Region, has a direct stake in navigating this challenge.

For now, the Walloon arms industry finds itself in an uncomfortable position: celebrating record sales while confronting the reality that the raw materials needed to sustain that growth may no longer be reliably available from the world’s largest supplier.