How many primer producers are there in the US? My read on this is four, Federal, CCI, Remington and Winchester. Now where do the manufactured primers go? Most go to the manufacture of loaded ammunition and that is millions and millions of loaded rounds for the shooting enthusiast market and the military market and law enforcement. I have no clue how many ammunition manufacturer's are in the US? Currently you only have four manufacturers making the primers. There is no shortage of information out there explaining that currently all primers manufactured are going to ammunition manufacture. They are not shipping to the retailers reloading enthusiast buy components from. Currently the primer manufacturer can't even meet the demand for making loaded ammunition causing delays in that pipeline.
Globally there are plenty more primer manufacturers like Armscor, Seller & Bellot, Fiocchi, and a few Russian manufacturers. Rumor control has it that primers from foreign sources are enroot but importing primers is not all that simple or quick. It's not just a long boat ride but a mountain of logistics involved. For years the market was saturated with Seller and Bellot which seemed to have just stopped. No clue why but when Cabela's was selling them they were about $18 a thousand.
Most of us have seen this all before but never like this time around. The "Perfect Storm" and the great primer shortage of 2020 has now extended into 2021 and as much as I would like to be an optimist I do not see this ending anytime soon. The guys making primers have explained where their production is going and it is not to retailers. Even trying to supply ammunition manufacture they can't keep up with demand.
Ron