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Meetings in France last week showed ’we’re serious and interested,’ premier says
Published Apr 08, 2026 • 5 minute read
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The Port of Belledune. Photo: Submitted/Port of BelleduneArticle content
Premier Susan Holt says her government is pitching Belledune as the prospective home to build Canada’s largest explosives factory since the Second World War.
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That’s after Holt’s recent trip to Belgium and France included a meeting with officials from Eurenco, Europe’s top producer of propellants and explosives.
It comes just a few weeks after the premier and Luke Randall, minister responsible for Opportunities NB, met with new Canadian firm Nalagx.
Those two companies announced a partnership last fall to build a Canadian plant that would export largely to Europe’s NATO countries which are now rapidly rebuilding their arsenals after decades of underinvestment.
That’s while Canada is also massively ramping up defence spending.
It’s a project that has a potential value of US$1-billion and would generate 500 direct jobs.
A first plant is scheduled to become operational by 2029.
“We would like them to choose Belledune,” Holt told Brunswick News in an interview.
“I think we’re still competing, although I think we have an inside edge on it, and trips like this one helps show that we’re serious and interested.
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“And if this is something where all of the partners are on board and we agree that these are the right people that we want to do business with and that the need is there from the federal government level, then we believe Belledune is absolutely the right place for this and has a competitive advantage that makes the project attractive.”
Holt added: “It’s certainly an interesting idea that folks see to address the significant shortage in energetics that exists amongst our allies, and to have the capacity to address that in Canada, to be able to meet both our own military’s needs and also contribute to our allies needs for things like the battle that’s going on in the Ukraine and others.”
It was a key part of Holt’s trip to Europe last week.
That’s as the two partnering companies have said they are looking for an east coast manufacturing site that ideally would be close to rail links and a shipping port, while stating it has identified five potential unnamed sites in Canada.
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It was a meeting in France Holt said she held alongside Canada’s new ambassador to France Nathalie Drouin who was previously in charge of advising Prime Minister Mark Carney on national security and intelligence issues.
“It was great to have Ambassador Drouin in those conversations as we figure out whether this is something we have the space to do up in Belledune,” Holt said.
“We have that connectivity between the Port of Belledune and our European allies that would matter to making this work, access to the kind of energy they need, and the workforce, given that they foresee this as potentially hundreds of jobs.”
There’s other ways New Brunswick fits, Holt said.
She referenced a forest products component in energetics where nitrocellulose, a component of wood fibre, acts as a combustible casing in military munitions, ranging from small arms to heavy artillery.
“So lots of things that make it interesting,” Holt said.
The premier said that as her government and the two companies do their due diligence, any plant would also be contingent on federal plans.
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“Now the conversations turn to the federal government, because at the end of the day, you need a purchaser, you need someone saying, ‘Yes, I’ll put in a purchase order for a certain volume of energetics at a certain price’ to determine whether we can then unlock the investment to advance the project,” Holt said.
The Euro trade mission also included Port Saint John CEO Craig Bell Estabrooks and Port of Belledune CEO Denis Caron, along with private sector representation from DP World, which operates the Saint John port, QSL, which operates Belledune, Americold, the company behind the massive Saint John cold food storage facility, and New Brunswick-based multinational seafood company Cooke.
“At a time when our economic relationship with our southern neighbour is in a very precarious state, the imperative is there for New Brunswick to get out and find new customers and new export markets for New Brunswick businesses so that we can protect ourselves from the unpredictability of the U.S.,” Holt said.
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“And so the beauty is that I don’t think there’s ever been a better time.
“We have countries around the world, and certainly Belgium and France count among them, as very interested in doing more business with Canada and more business with New Brunswick.”
Holt made a point to say that companies abroad are looking for, among other things, “space” – something New Brunswick can offer.
“If you go to Europe, you’ll see that finding room, literally finding square footage or acreages to set up manufacturing or development of new products or other things, space is at a premium,” Holt said.
“The Port of Antwerp-Bruges (Europe’s second-largest port) is literally full. They have no more space to open up another berth or take on another container, which is why they’re looking for those partnerships.
“If they want to develop green hydrogen, they’re not going to do it on their land. That’s the kind of thing that we’re going to do over here, and send them the final product.”
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The trip included a tour of the Port of Antwerp which is also home to Air Liquide’s ammonia cracker plant.
It’s a unit that can convert 30 tonnes of ammonia to hydrogen per day, a world first, showcasing large-scale ammonia cracking as a viable method of solving the challenge of transporting hydrogen over long distances.
That’s as the Port of Belledune is pursuing a green hydrogen production facility.
“Seeing Air Liquide’s pilot ammonia cracker was part of us trying to understand whether their demand for green hydrogen still existed,” Holt said.
“So before Belledune takes that project to the next stage of development, we wanted to make sure that the buyer was still there and was still interested.
“And so that essentially reinforced that Belledune should move forward with the green hydrogen project that they’ve been working on and that we have some good partners there that want to work with us on it.”
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