Metalheads: Crescendo in commodities rates gives thieves reason to nod

Record-breaking prices for metals such as copper, iron and steel mean hard times for many builders and contractors, but they are pure inspiration for one wave of opportunists.
“The markets have created a whole new world of thieves,” said Revonda Crawford, owner of New Life Recycling, a scrap yard in Staunton.
Crawford said people attempt to sell her stolen metal items – ranging from dismantled satellite dishes to spools of copper wire – on an almost daily basis. She also has to be vigilant in protecting her own property, she said.
“People try to walk off with stuff and sell it back to me the next day,” she said.
An ongoing, nationwide rash of metal thefts since prices began to rise steadily about two years ago has been exacerbated by unprecedented increases over the last several months, said Bruce Savage, a spokesman for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries.
Copper, which Crawford said was among the most commonly stolen metals in the Augusta County region, costs 25 percent more than it did a year ago, with a 20-percent spike since January, Savage said. Prices for iron and steel are up a whopping 58 percent over last year, with a 49-percent increase since January.
Enterprising thieves across the country have responded to the rising prices with increasingly daring tactics, diversifying targets to include public property such as sewer grates, manhole covers, bronze statues – even high school bleachers, Savage said.
“There’s definitely a profit motive with the high prices of these commodities,” Savage said. “It’s creating a very brazen attitude.”
Five solid copper blocks used for grounding electrical surges were reported stolen May 27 from a cell phone tower in Greenville, according to a police report. Dozens more of the 5-pound “busbars” were taken in a string of late 2007 thefts targeting cell phone towers from the Shenandoah Valley to Richmond, Good said. Twelve suspiciously similar “busbars” turned up in a Stuarts Draft scrap yard roughly 6 months ago, but because the hardware lacked definitive markings, the seller was never prosecuted, Good said.
Nine spools of copper wiring, valued at $1,132, were stolen between May 17 and 19 from a construction site in Fishersville, Investigator Joey Good of the Augusta County Sheriff’s Department said. A padlocked storage trailer was forced open and the wire specifically taken from among other miscellaneous items, he said.
The platinum, rhodium and palladium found in catalytic converters have made them a popular target for metal thieves as well, Good said. In February, a mere two months after 30 of the pollution control devices were stolen from a Hyundai dealership in Staunton, thieves struck the same business again, unbolting 14 more from cars parked on the lot, Good said. Between 60 and 70 catalytic converters were stolen in mid-April from a Lyndhurst auto salvage yard, Good said. Another was reported stolen May 24 from a car in Stuarts Draft.
High metal prices are also taking a toll on area businesses. Willy Ferguson, owner of Ferguson Metal Fabricators in Staunton, said orders for items such as backsplashes – stainless steel sheets used to protect wall surfaces behind stoves – have fallen dramatically, both because of lagging construction and dizzying material costs.
“It makes people a little leery of buying what they normally would buy,” Ferguson said. “Even when people are doing renovations they’re hesitant to spend $200 to $300 dollars on a new backsplash, which is twice what they cost a year ago.”
Anita Edwards, bookkeeper for the Adom Construction Company in Fishersville, said her company, which specializes in metal buildings, has suffered in recent months as price increases of 30 to 50 percent for raw materials have inevitably trickled down to customers. An uptick in renovation jobs, as people opt to improve existing structures rather than build anew, has compensated somewhat, she said, but with three major construction projects – a church and two commercial buildings – tabled since January, harsh economic realities continue to eat into the company’s bottom line.
According to a mass letter to retailers from Chuck Haslebacher, president of steel supply company, VP Builders, relief is unlikely until domestic prices make imported metal a practical alternative or the dollar begins to strengthen.
“The recent and rapid increases in carbon steel prices have surprised everyone in our industry and many other industries that rely on this commodity for raw material,” according to the letter. “Unfortunately, there is really no way to accurately forecast these increases in order to give you sufficient advanced notice … Please bear with us as we all manage through this very difficult time.”