Expect More U.S. Copper Theft as Scrap Prices Rise Because of Chile Earthquake
Chile’s mines are still struggling to get up and running this
week, days after a massive earthquake disrupted commodity production in the
world’s top copper supplier, as damage to the power grid hindered a return to
normal operations. The price of copper initially jumped more than 5 percent
when markets opened on Monday, after Saturday’s 8.8 magnitude quake, one of the
largest on record, closed up to a fifth of copper mine capacity in Chile. The
mines most affected were south of Santiago, near where the quake was centered
off the coast of Chile. State-owned Codelco, the world’s No. 1 copper producer,
reported Monday that its Andina mine was still shut.
More thefts? There are already several major U.S. thefts a
week.