Last summer it was a bit of a trick getting canning lids....my mom has canned since forever, and also shared her production of tomatoes, jam and salsa with us, so I was quite involved in trying to procure a supply, thankfully with good success.
This year, I've been concerned as well, as the usual sources have "three to a customer" signs and empty shelves, at least for the lids.... fingers crossed for when the harvesting season kicks in.
When transporting two of my scooters from storage a couple of weeks back, I looked at the trailer tires while checking inflation and saw some serious sidewall cracking I hadn't noticed before. Checked the tire age and yeah, it's high time to replace them. Unfortunately, my usual source is out, unless I buy an entire wheel. (Kind of a pattern here...I can buy a glass canning jar with lid and ring, but no lid only...). My auto shop checked on tires and they were over $100. EACH. The last time I'd checked price they were around $65. I'd assumed a COVID-related supply issue, but the store claims there's a rubber shortage. Suddenly I see a connection with canning lids....there's a ring of rubber around the edge. There may be other issues, but I'm assuming there's a problem procuring some component of the product.
So, I either panic and do every thing possible to get what I want, at an exorbitant price, or wait until the supply eventually stabilizes. I've got a couple of months before I need the trailer, and the same for lids. It's kind of a weird feeling....used to hear about lines at markets elsewhere, but this has been the land of plenty, even excess. We've got some "getting used to" to do it seems.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210308-rubber-the-wonder-material-we-are-running-out-of
Car and Driver seems a bit more circumspect.....
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36312124/tire-shortage-possible/