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I was working for a company that does all our manufacturing in the US and we source raw materials from US companies. It's been harder but not impossible to get the specific material we need (we weren't getting stainless tubing but were getting stainless solid to make parts so can't comment specifically on stainless tube) but the prices increased every single time we made orders.
as has been stated it's a multitude of factors that cause these problems. Everything from Just In Time stocking to price increase/supply chain issues. I will say that other companies that we were competing against we using outside vendors to build a lot of their parts and then shipping them to the US. That's all well and good and creates a lower price point for customers. Until it gets damn near impossible to either get your parts here or have them made because the country that is making them is shut down.
The company i worked for has always had some stones thrown at it because of it's higher price point. When everything went to shit we were pretty much the only game in town and it worked in our favor. I'm talking rival companies having 4-6 month back orders for things we had on the shelf ready to ship that day.
I will place a lot of blame on consumers for this. Can't tell you how many times I've had small business owners selling their products for way cheaper than they should because they felt if they raised prices people would never buy it. You want good materials, fabbed and welded well, and have a lot less issues with sourcing materials? Don't buy cheap stuff :shrug:
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