• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Metal Precious to Thieves As Demand Inflates Prices

Posted on: Wednesday, 31 May 2006, 21:00 CDT

By Aldo Svaldi, The Denver Post

May 21--High copper prices hit home, literally, for Steve Titus when thieves stripped the electrical wiring and copper pipe from a house he is building in Platte Park.

"I was about a day away from getting the electrical work inspected, and someone broke in and started cutting the wires," Titus said. The still unsolved theft cost the custom-home builder about $6,000, mostly to reinstall wiring and air conditioning pipes.

Demand for copper and other metals domestically and worldwide is driving up prices -- and making such thievery lucrative.

"Copper is being stolen at an alarming rate," said Sonny Jackson, a Denver police spokesman.

Denver police arrested seven people last month inside the old Gates Rubber plant, allegedly gathering scrap metal. Most metal thefts in Denver target new construction.

That was the case in Longmont, where thieves last week stole a large amount of copper from a SuperTarget site under construction.

Adams County has seen thieves get bolder and jump fences of businesses to retrieve metal they then resell to recyclers.

Fast-growing economies such as India and China are hungry for commodities of all types. Copper production is expected to come up 200,000 tons short of the 17.8 million tons buyers will need this year, estimates investment bank UBS AG.

Spot copper prices are up about 149 percent the past year, according to Bloomberg, but dropped sharply last week -- in part because speculators sold their holdings. Zinc prices are up about 179 percent, and aluminum is up 61 percent.

With demand outstripping supply, thieves are stripping metal wherever they can find it. The few county officers have caught aren't teenagers but people in their thirties or older, said Jana Colwell, a crime analyst with the Adams County Sheriff's Office.

Copper isn't the only metal sought. Thieves in Westminster have stolen 25 stainless steel boxes used to protect sprinkling systems valves at a cost of $19,000. They have also walked off with park benches and sections of aluminum bleacher seats from Wolff Run Park, leaving parents standing as their kids play.

Frustrated that extra patrols weren't stopping the crimes, undercover Westminster police removed two aluminum benches and stamped Westminster on four sides to see if a local recycler would accept them, said Westminster investigator Trevor Materasso.

Benson & Benson Metals Co., whom police had twice requested to be on the lookout for stolen city property, accepted the benches, Materasso said.

Undercover officers exchanged 58 pounds of aluminum for $33.65, resulting in a citation for the company and two employees. Benson & Benson's owner declined comment.

Roger Neuscheler, owner of the Silver Anvil Engineering Corp. in Commerce City, said he is extremely careful. "I am not going to take stuff from people I don't know," he said. "I will have copies of the person's driver's license, positive identification." He also requires sellers to sign affidavits that they are the rightful owner of the metal.

Neuscheler, who works primarily with silver and gold, said he has seen demand for his smelting and refining service jump 40 percent in the last month alone.

Jackson advises homebuilders to install locks on homes under construction. Contractors should not bring metal pipes and wiring on site until the day they are going to be installed.

But even that may not be enough. Titus said he had to stop someone trying to steal rebar wire in broad daylight.

Given the time it takes to strip, gather and transport metal, thieves typically don't make much for the effort, something Westminster police learned firsthand. "They are working really hard for the buck they are making," Materasso said.

-----

To see more of The Denver Post, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.denverpost.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, The Denver Post

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Denver Post

More News in this Category