Reloading is tough these days. Powder shortages and insane price hikes make this already pricey hobby even more stressful. Hodgdon Powder one of the most popular powder manufactures out there and thankfully, didn’t leave us without an update in this new year. See the update below. If you have specific questions about your type of powder go ahead and click here and peruse through the comments, a lot of commenters are asking about specifics.
Hodgdon Powder
January 12, 2023
“POWDER UPDATE 2023
QUICK SUMMARY: In 2023, we anticipate powder availability to return to Pre-COVID conditions. Our powders will be readily available on dealer shelves and for purchase on our website. While demand has remained at a record high for now nearly 3 years, we look forward to closing the gap between demand and supply and thank you for your patience.
WILL ALL YOUR POWDERS BE READILY AVAILABLE?
While there are some exceptions such as our Enduron and Trail Boss powders, the majority of our powders will be easily located via various retailers.
WHY CAN’T HODGDON MAKE MORE POWDER?
We wish it were that simple – what we have experienced since 2020 is a demand issue and not a supply issue. The reality is we are doing everything possible to maximize shipments to our customers, including running overtime in production, packaging and shipping areas and working with our shipping partners to add new inbound and outbound shipping options. During the past 3 years, we broke record after record for powder shipments. We learned what worked best in terms of distribution and will continue to maximize all efforts to maintain this high level of shipping.
WILL HODGDON BUILD ANOTHER PLANT TO KEEP UP WITH FUTURE SPIKES IN DEMAND?
A new powder production facility would require an investment far beyond our finances and no financial institution would finance this type of building project. While the past 3 years of demand appears to be different from demand spikes in the last 20 years, the “normal” powder demand for the U.S. would not support an additional manufacturing plant.
WHY IS HODGDON SELLING POWDER TO AMMUNITION MANUFACTURERS?
Our focus is the handloading enthusiast. Yes, we sell some powder to strategic, mostly smaller ammunition manufacturers, but that is a small part of our business. The heart of our business is smokeless powder for the handloading enthusiast. Every day, we receive calls from potential OEM customers who are looking for powder to load in ammunition. Every day, we politely decline this new business so we can focus on our long-term customers and sales channels and most importantly, our costumers who have supported us for decades.”
There you have it. Hodgdon is passionate about the normal everyday handloader, they aren’t building a new facility, and well, they’re still trying to get back to where things were as far as readily available powder and are forecasting that this will be done in 2023.
Remember though, prices will NEVER be back to normal due to natural supply and demand and other tax hikes. The price of powder isn’t due to Hodgdon, or IMR, or Alliant, it is due to well..everything just kind of sucking due to COVID and other changes that may have happened in the year 2021..cough.
