REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File PhotoBRUSSELS, June 16 (Reuters) - Rheinmetall will ramp up production of propellant powder for ammunition at its plant in the Bavarian town of Aschau by 500 to 600 metric tons per year, adding some 10% to its current global capacity of more than 6,000 tons, its CEO Armin Papperger said. Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE) has already kicked off an investment programme with this goal, Papperger told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday. "You can only do it if you have a very, very large order of, for example, 800,000 artillery shells," Papperger said. "This is not a situation we find ourselves in, which means we are finding other ways such as expanding our powder plant in Bavaria." In January, Papperger told Reuters that Rheinmetall was considering building a new powder plant, possibly in the eastern German state of Saxony, but that the investment of 700-800 million euros would have to be footed by the government in Berlin.

---

Persons: Fabian Bimmer, Armin Papperger, Papperger, Sabine Siebold, Conor Humphries Organizations: Lynx, Rheinmetall, REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Unterluess, Germany, BRUSSELS, Bavarian, Aschau, Bavaria, Saxony, Berlin, Ukraine