In 1659, German J.R. Graubel produced ammonium nitrate for the first time. At the end of the 19th century, Europeans used ammonium sulfate and Chilean saltpeter to undergo a metathesis reaction to produce ammonium nitrate. Later, due to the large-scale development of the synthetic ammonia industry, the production of ammonium nitrate obtained abundant raw materials and developed rapidly in the middle of the 20th century. During the Second World War, some countries specially established ammonium nitrate plants to manufacture explosives. In the 1960s, ammonium nitrate was the leading species of nitrogen fertilizer. China established a number of ammonium nitrate factories in the 1950s.
In the 1940s, in order to prevent agricultural ammonium nitrate from absorbing moisture and agglomerating, it was coated with paraffin and other organic substances. There were explosions caused by fire in shipping. Therefore, some countries have formulated management regulations on the production, storage and transportation of agricultural ammonium nitrate. Some countries even prohibit the transportation and direct use of ammonium nitrate as fertilizer, and only allow the use of calcium ammonium nitrate mixed with calcium carbonate.
Later, due to the mastery of the use of ammonium nitrate, some countries such as France, the Soviet Union, Romania, the United States and the United Kingdom allowed ammonium nitrate to be directly used as fertilizer, but established standards for the safe use of products.