One thing all homeowners dread as the warmer months approach are air conditioners breaking down, but a recent rise in local copper theft could help give way to that malfunction.
Each home cooling unit contains a coil of copper tubing, and when the price of that metal rises — as it did in March — it becomes an easy way for thieves to make a quick buck.
“There have been three of four copper thefts in the past month, which is not extraordinary by any means, but we have had a few more than usual,” said Maj. Chris Hill of the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office. “Copper crimes are driven by the market and, although there have been times in the past year when copper prices have dropped down for a short amount of time, it has gone back up to set new record highs in the most recent days.”
The Wall Street Journal reported this month copper futures are trading at their highest level on the New York Mercantile Exchange since July 2008.
Bruce Savage, spokesman for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries in Washington, D.C., said an improving economy and an increase in demand from markets such as India and China have contributed to the rise.
Savage said the metal reached a high of $3.50 per pound the first week in April, about 50 cents shy of a record set in 2008. But the amount each recycler gives out depends on the business — which, according to one large-scale metal recycling center in Kinston, is showing that business is good.
“Copper is one of our main metals we get,” said Kevin Hill, owner of JIL Industrial Recycling on North Queen Street. “The prices are up considerably.”
Locally, copper is trading at close to $3 a pound, but companies and the state are taking precautions to keep trading copper honest
By law in North Carolina, no person can transport or have in his possession on state highways more than 25 pounds of copper unless such person shall have in his possession a certificate of origin signed by the sheriff or a bill of sale authorized by the N.C. Department of Revenue, certified wholesaler, registered dealer in scrap metals or seller of antiques.
The bill of sale must include an inventory of the materials, the name and address of the purchaser and seller, license plate of the delivery vehicle, the date of sale, and the type and amount of such copper purchased.
To comply with this law, which can carry a misdemeanor charge, Hill requires each donator fill out and sign an affidavit affirming the metal is not stolen. The company also requires each donor submit a photocopy of their driver’s license or other means of identification.
“There is not really any way to catch a burglar unless the police come looking for a specific suspect,” Kevin Hill said. “The bad thing is there is no way of distinguishing where the copper comes from. Most copper that comes in is tubing cut up in small strips.”
Stolen copper can also cause damage outside of just materials stolen in terms of HVAC repairs.
In one instance at Seashore Transportation earlier this month, someone broke into a fenced-in area and stole $200 worth of copper from an air conditioning unit.
The theft cost the business $200 in damages to the fence and $2,000 in damages to the air conditioner.
“They get it wherever they can — air conditioners, telephone towers, off the back of construction trucks — and I don’t see it letting up,” Kevin Hill said. “As long as prices continue to rise and there are people desperate for money, it is not going to stop.”
