Yeah, difficulty getting powder from overseas has been a trend recently, whether with Hodgdon, Ramshot or Alliant. Hard to pin down an overall reason, since various factors have all played a role, including factory fires, political tensions in Europe and the Mideast, and even New Zealand getting nervous about more ships full of powder stopping at the Auckland harbor.
In the early years of smokeless rifle powder almost every major military power in the world came up with their own formula, so they wouldn't have to depend on another country for powder. But the recent world-wide marketplace made it far easier to contract with foreign factories for powders, and the sky-high demand since Obama became president obviously also had an effect.
I'm actually a little surprised China hasn't started making smokeless powder and selling it to U.S. companies. After all, that's where the majority of the fireworks Americans set off every year are made, and the Chinese apparently aren't afraid of those factories blowing up. A big one went boom over there last month, but we'll be lighting up the sky with Chinese black powder come July.
