German army to boost Rheinmetall artillery shell order by 200,000, document shows

BERLIN (Reuters) -The German army intends to order 200,000 more artillery shells from armsmaker Rheinmetall than it had planned, a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday from the Defence Ministry to parliament's budget committee.

The army plans to get 200,000 additional 155mm artillery shells worth about 880 million euros ($960 million) within its framework agreement with the defence firm, the letter said. It had already agreed to a 1.2 billion euro deal for several hundred thousand shells, fuses and charges.

The new shells are meant to refill the army's depots as Germany helps supply Ukraine as it fights off the Russian military, which invaded in 2022.

As Western governments beef up their military and replenish their stocks after supplying arms to Kyiv, Rheinmetall, whose market value has more than quadrupled since the war in Ukraine, is seeing a sharp increase in orders.

By placing the order, the German defence ministry also wants to ensure that Rheinmetall can set up a new production line in the central German town of Unterluess.

Rheinmetall, one of the biggest producers of artillery and tank shells in the world, began ramping up production after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where the need for ammunition has exacerbated a shortage and left European manufacturers struggling to meet demand.

Der Spiegel magazine had originally reported the increase.

($1 = 0.9169 euros)

(Reporting by Holger Hansen, Andrey Sychev, and Madeline Chambers. Editing by Gerry Doyle)