Metal thefts soar with prices for scrap(record prices,China building boom)

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/business-5/1137734676291670.xml&storylist=cleveland

1/20/2006, 12:00 a.m. ET
By JAMES HANNAH
The Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — ...

The home had been stripped of aluminum siding from the ground to as high as a person could reach.

"A couple days later, they broke back in and stole all the copper in it," said Young, who has since renovated the house and has it up for sale. "I can't tell you how many houses we've bought with no downspouts — gutters gone."...

High market prices for copper and aluminum are enticing thieves to steal metal to sell for scrap. Fueled in part by a building boom in China, demand for copper has pushed its price to historic highs, and aluminum prices are the highest they've been in 17 years...

"This is just crazy," said Springfield police Detective Geoff Ashworth, who is taking up to two metal theft reports a day. "And there's no one or two, there's no six people that are specifically responsible for this. Everybody's doing it. People know the prices are up."

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/business-5/1137734675291670.xml&storylist=cleveland


1/20/2006, 12:00 a.m. ET
By The Associated Press
The Associated Press

(AP) — ...

• A two-mile stretch of streetlights are out in Tucson, Ariz., after thieves made off with copper power cable that will cost about $250,000 to replace.

• Panels were peeled from one of the onion-shaped copper domes at St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Cleveland. The church appeared in scenes of the Oscar-winning film "The Deer Hunter."

• About $35,000 worth of air conditioners was stolen from an apartment complex in Montgomery, Ala., for the copper coils inside.

• Thieves with spiked boots climbed power poles just outside Yakima, Wash., to cut down 600 feet of copper cable for historic trolleys that carry tourists through a nearby mountain pass, closing the ride for the season.

[leftchick]

1. so I was wondering how much the thieves are getting for it....

<snip>

On the market, pure copper is selling for about $2.10 a pound, and aluminum about $1.05. Scrap copper, such as pipe and wire, is fetching between $1.30 to $1.80 a pound, about double what it was a year ago. Medium-grade scrap aluminum, such as siding, sells for 45 to 65 cents a pound, up 10 to 12 cents.

wtf?

[gulfcoastliberal]

2. The economy's so great people are trading commodities!

:eyes:

[EuroObserver]

3. Plus, don't underestimate the power of barter... n/t

[Algorem]

4. They're joining the investor class,thanks to Bush & John "Dynamo" Snow

[Jack_DeLeon]

5. Save those copper pennies they are worth more than 1 cent.

www.coinflation.com

[TX-RAT]

6. Been happening for years along the TX border.

TX DOT has went to all wood signs close to the border, instead of the standard aluminum. People were coming across the border at night and stealing all the aluminum signs.

[underpants]

7. Sounds like Baghdad

Now doesn't it?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. I read about this occurring in Baltimore, too...

The aluminum lightpoles are being replaced in some areas with wooden ones. Too bad they don't just pick up the cans people throw in the trash and over the landscape.