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Metal Prices Are Soaring. So Is Metal Theft
- h2odragon 3y agoScrap metal prices are nowhere near the peaks they hit in 2007.
- ProllyInfamous 3y agoA few years ago, I was an inventory manager at an electrical contracting shop — we had tens of thousands of dollars just in copper wire. One morning, I arrived to a burglar attempting to steal from our supply house. I performed a citizen's arrest (do not recommend)[1] with some of the other workers, but was the only employee called in to the perpetrator's trialS as I was "the boss" and was the one who bound him physically (multiple wastes of time, the guy "knew how to play the court system"). [1] In the future, I will not call the police.
- sickofparadox 3y agoIf you don't recommend detaining the guy or calling the police, what is one to do if they are being robbed, in an ideal scenario?
- ProllyInfamous 3y agoSelf defense. In this past incident, I had been the one to STOP my co-workers beating the dude. This was my mistake. Some people only learn extrajudicially.
- sickofparadox 3y agoI was originally going to ask that but felt it was a bit leading. Understandable - low trust societies require low trust social interactions to ensure stability.
- thriftwy 3y agoThat's the late USSR degeneration syndrome. Decrease in male life expectancy, opioid epidemic and now also metal theft.
- catherinecodes 3y agoStealing copper cables from electricity posts is common throughout much of the world. Here's an example[1] robbery. It usually amounts to a gain of a few days' wages for the thief, and a loss of half a day's electricity for the neighborhood. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG8Uju1JOkY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG8Uju1JOkY
- hex4def6 3y agoTangentially related, but I was at my local Home Depot, buying a grounding rod. It seemed like an amazing deal -- 5/8", 8 ft for $19.60. Weighing it, it's 6.6 lbs. Scrap prices according to the web are $3 to $3.30 for that quality of copper. Which means I could potentially be making $2 / rod buying them and selling them to the scrap yard... It makes me wonder if the Home Depot prices are just lagging the market. Maybe I should stock up.
- bguebert 3y agoMaybe it was copper clad steel instead of solid copper.
- c_o_n_v_e_x 3y agoI was in the HVAC industry throughout the 2000's. Metal thieves generated quite a bit of business for us. Thieves irreparably saw up condenser units to take the heat exchangers (copper tubing + aluminum fins). I can only imagine how much R22 (GWP of 1810) was released into the atmosphere. They'd also target our trucks to get any stored wire, tubing, fittings, or power tools they could get their hands on.