Explosive cannon shell — Factorio Production Calculator
Explosive cannon shell is crafted in the assembling machine in 8 seconds, producing 1 per craft from 2 × Steel plate, 2 × Plastic bar, 2 × Explosives. At 60 per minute you need 16 assembling machines, and the chain behind it draws on 4 raw resources: petroleum gas, water, iron ore, coal.
Production chain for 60 Explosive cannon shell / minute
| Item | Per minute | Machines | Machine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron plate | 600 | 32 | Furnace |
| Steel plate | 120 | 32 | Furnace |
| Plastic bar | 120 | 1 | Chemical plant |
| Explosives | 120 | 4 | Chemical plant |
| Explosive cannon shell | 60 | 16 | Assembling machine |
| Sulfur | 60 | 0.5 | Chemical plant |
Raw materials
| Resource | Per minute |
|---|---|
| Petroleum gas | 2,100 |
| Water | 1,500 |
| Iron ore | 600 |
| Coal | 120 |
Machine counts are not rounded up. Add a little headroom in game — belt throughput and inserter speed usually mean you want 5-10% more than the exact number.
Explosive cannon shell recipe
| Machine | Crafting time | Output | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assembling machine | 8 s | 1 | Steel plate × 2, Plastic bar × 2, Explosives × 2 |
What the whole chain needs
60 explosive cannon shells per minute pulls in 5 intermediate products, and the whole tree comes to 86 machines across 3 machine types, fed by 4 raw resources. The table above already sums demand across every branch — if copper cable is used by two recipes, you see the total, not one of them.
Belt check: the busiest input here moves 2,100 per minute, which is 2.33 of a yellow belt's 900 per minute. Above 1.0 and you need a second belt (or a faster tier) before the machines themselves become the limit.
What uses explosive cannon shell
2 base-game recipes consume explosive cannon shell, sorted by how much each one takes:
- Artillery shell — 4 per craft
- Explosive uranium cannon shell — 1 per craft
What explosive cannon shell is made from
- Steel plate — 2 per craft
- Plastic bar — 2 per craft
- Explosives — 2 per craft
FAQ
How many assembling machines do I need for 60 explosive cannon shells per minute?
16 assembling machines. One at standard speed produces 3.8 per minute, so 60 ÷ that number is the count. The calculator above rounds nothing — add 5-10% headroom for belt and inserter losses in a real factory.
How much raw ore does explosive cannon shell take?
At 60/min the chain consumes 2,100 petroleum gas per minute, 1,500 water per minute, 600 iron ore per minute and 1 more. Those numbers are the theoretical minimum — mining productivity research and productivity modules both reduce them.
Is explosive cannon shell needed for science packs?
Not directly. It feeds Artillery shell and Explosive uranium cannon shell, and those in turn feed the science packs. Open the science pack page to see the demand that lands on this recipe.
Machine counts assume bare machines at standard speed. Recipe data comes from the game's own prototypes (PlayerCalc, Factorio 2.0 base game). Not affiliated with Wube Software.