Ammonium nitrate aqueous solution is developing well and porous ammonium nitrate may be gradually replaced.

Ammonium nitrate is an ammonium salt that decomposes explosively when hit hard or heated, and decomposes when exposed to alkali. It is mainly used as fertilizer and industrial and military explosives. Industrial ammonium nitrate can be divided into three categories: crystalline ammonium nitrate, liquid ammonium nitrate, and porous ammonium nitrate. The nitamine content of porous ammonium nitrate is greater than 99.5%. It is generally in a relatively uniform granular shape and has no visible impurities. It is divided into first-class products and qualified products according to different product indicators, and can be used as raw materials for industrial explosives.

The granular ammonium oil explosive made by mixing porous ammonium nitrate and fuel oil has the advantages of strong explosive power, low price, non-toxic and non-polluting, and is widely used in mining, construction and other fields. At present, there are few domestic companies producing porous ammonium nitrate. Well-known companies in the industry include Henan Jinkai Chemical Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., China Coal Pingshuo Group Co., Ltd., Shaanxi Xinghua Group Co., Ltd., and Tianji Coal Chemical Group Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd. and Xinjiang Jinxiang Sairui Coal Chemical Technology Co., Ltd., etc. From the perspective of the domestic market, the main manufacturers in the porous ammonium nitrate market are mainly civil explosive companies and mining companies that supply the products surrounding the company, and the competition is relatively relaxed.

According to the “2023-2028 China Porous Ammonium Nitrate Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center, Porous ammonium nitrate is a hazardous chemical. In recent years, my country has implemented a strict industry management system for the production and operation of hazardous chemicals. In 2022, the output of China’s porous ammonium nitrate industry will be 1.583 million tons, and the civil explosive industry is an important downstream application field of my country’s porous ammonium nitrate.

Porous ammonium nitrate is mainly used in the production of various types of explosives such as ammonium fuel oil and emulsion explosives. It currently has shortcomings such as greater safety hazards and complex production processes. At this stage, some domestic companies are actively developing production processes and equipment for producing emulsion explosives by dissolving ammonium nitrate aqueous solution instead of porous granular ammonium nitrate. Compared with porous ammonium nitrate, using liquid ammonium nitrate to manufacture emulsion explosives and expanded ammonium nitrate explosives can reduce overall energy consumption, reduce the crushing process, increase production efficiency, and improve the production environment. Therefore, liquid ammonium nitrate has a certain substitution effect on porous ammonium nitrate.

Industry analysts sources said that in 2021, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Transport and other departments issued the “About Further Strengthening “Notice on the Safety Management of Ammonium Nitrate”, improve the safety technical standards of ammonium nitrate, study and formulate product standards for porous granular ammonium nitrate and ammonium nitrate solution. Compared with porous ammonium nitrate, the quality of liquid ammonium nitrate products is more stable, and the use of liquid ammonium nitrate can eliminate the need for crushing and dissolving processes and reduce the number of explosives production line operators, which is in line with the current policy guidance of the civil explosives industry. On the whole, due to increasingly stringent domestic environmental protection and safety policies and changes in demand from downstream companies, investment in the porous ammonium nitrate industry is highly uncertain, and investors are advised to invest cautiously.