The ceramic materials we depend on are no longer commodities we can assume will always be cheap and available. Lithium materials can suddenly multiply in price. Cobalt colorants can double. A familiar plaster can disappear. Zircon and stains can jump with global mineral markets. Products made from these (e.g. glazes, underglazes) follow suit. And freight can make even inexpensive clay expensive.
The answer is not to stockpile everything—it is to learn how to adapt. A potter who tests, documents and understands materials can reduce cobalt, replace lithium, qualify a new plaster, reformulate around a discontinued feldspar, make better use of a local clay, and even make his/her own glaze and underglaze. Accumulated knowledge from ongoing testing becomes insulation against both inflation and disruption. Think of your test records as a savings account. Every melt test, firing schedule, recipe adjustment, clay test and photograph is a small deposit. When supply problems or price increases arrive, years of organized observations suddenly become very valuable, giving your choices and options others don't have.
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Historically, pottery has been a shining star of resilience and independence because the materials were in the ground nearby. So why are they coming thousands of miles in shipping containers? Because you can't just head out to the nearest hill with your wheelbarrow. But you are not helpless either.
Rather than viewing these containers as full of specific brand-name clays, minerals and man-made powders, it is better to view them as full of materials that supply the physical properties and chemistries needed to make bodies, glazes, engobes, slips, etc. By characterizing your glazes and bodies, using an effective record-keeping system, you can not only adjust recipes to adapt to changing supplies, but even improve them in the process (adjusting glaze thermal expansion, temperature, surface, color, etc). Or, use materials native to your area. It is not rocket science; it is just work and gradual learning accompanied by organized record-keeping, good labelling and interpretation skills.

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The ceramic industry depends on some surprisingly specialized materials made by very few companies. When one of those companies exits the market, we need to notice. Consider how much of ceramics depends on plaster: slip casting of pottery and sanitaryware, jiggering, RAM pressing, mold making and countless studio processes. Yet plaster is so inexpensive and familiar that we tend to forget how technologically specialized—and indispensable—it actually is. USG #1 Pottery Plaster has been an industry standard for generations.

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As potters, we learned that no one is affected by supply chain problems more than prepared glaze manufacturers; they have complex recipes that require complex supply chains. It wasn't just availability; product consistency was also affected. It is again time to think about DIY, to start learning how to weigh out the ingredients to make at least some of your own. Arm yourself with good base recipes that fit your clay bodies (without crazing or shivering). Add stains, opacifiers and variegators to the bases to make anything you want. Admittedly, ingredients in your recipes can also become unavailable! But DIY is about options. When you "understand" glaze ingredients and what each contributes to the recipe and oxide chemistry, you are equipped to go well beyond weathering material supply issues. You will improve recipes, not just adjust them, to accommodate alternative materials. It is not rocket science; it is just work accompanied by organized record-keeping and good labelling.

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At current prices, that costs 75 cents/g! Only half is actual stain powder. Before considering cost, note that the high water content of these is actually a benefit; the thixotropic gel has excellent brushing properties, enabling very thin layering. However, more than one layer is needed to achieve opacity and even color.
Because I am all-in on DIY, the elephant in the room is price. In one scenario, using encapsulated red stain and assuming 50% in my underglaze recipe, I calculated a 1500% saving (assuming the same specific gravity)! But it gets better. I make mine with a higher specific gravity and a much lower stain percentage (e.g. 20%) to get the same result. It goes on in one coat. I also fine-tune the degree-of-melt by adjusting the feldspar. And I optimize bisque hardness, and thus overpaintability, by adjusting the clay percentage. With my setup, I can weigh and make a 1-pint jar of underglaze in ten minutes. Another bonus: When I find ways to improve, I edit the notes in its recipe record in insight-live (and adjust the procedure or recipe for next time).
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