Looks like the news missed it. I missed it too. I dont have any kind of position in copper except for whats in the household change bucket. But copper is going up something fierce. Click the 1Y button not the YTD button (Full year vs year to date). https://www.kitco.com/price/precious-metals/copper

This also means copper thefts are about to go way up. The last time copper did this, folks were stealing copper in ways nobody ever thought of. Bad economy plus easy to steal money...

We caught ppl stripping copper pipes from under the crawlspaces of older homes last time.

$3.30/lb for bare bright at the scrap yard today.

I got some copper for copper thief😉

I seem to remember a video of a very big dude dead lifting a 2.5 ton a/c unit and loading it in his pick up. Just pulled up and picked it up.

From WSFA:

"SELMA, Ala. (WSFA) - The Selma Police Department has investigated over a hundred stolen AC units in the Selma area in the past year, Selma police announced in a post.

The thefts have caused thousands of dollars in damages so far. Currently, there is no indication of how large the ring is or if there are any known suspects.

SPD is encouraging anyone with information to come forward. You can contact the Selma Police Department at 334-876-1260.

WSFA has reached out to investigators for more details."

And thats just Selma.
It just occurred to me and I bet its already a problem but if the price of metals in general keep going up we could see high rise buildings collapse in some big cities. San Fran and other places have been reporting for months about homeless folks moving into vacant office buildings. Those buildings are going to be striped and gutted if they are not already. The folks taking the copper and other metals are also not thinking about the structure of the building, and you know they are not worried if they accidentally start a fire.

MDOT COPPER THIEVES

Brian Ratliff, MDOT Chief Engineer - “We went up there and looked at the structure mounted pull box. They’re busting those apart. They’re either hooking to a vehicle with a rope tied to our copper wire that’s inside the conduit mounted to the bridges and they’re pulling it out, rolling it up and getting away.”

18 different locations this has happened to around the Jackson area, back in '22.

I remember when Obama gave some homeless people houses to live in, free and clear. Chicago I think. They immediately stripped the wiring out and sold it and anything else of value, trashed the house and turned it into a flop house.

So that say $4/oz. You can buy 1lb bars of pure copper on Amazon for $23. If they’re really worth $64 why are people not buying every one of them?

I have a family member that is a buyer for a Major scrap vendor. He said, just today, copper has hit the roof. If I had any to sell, bring it. If it was a lot, better have someone's business license or they will refuse it thinking it was theft.

Copper is priced by the pound not the ounce.

I remember a few years ago they tried to pass a state law that required that an ID be presented and recorded for anyone selling scrap metal to a scrap dealer. There was a legislator from Tuscaloosa that fought tooth and nail to prevent the law from being approved. Any idea if that ever passed?

I was building a home when that happened. Was standing in the kitchen hugging the wife, long after dark. Pre-drywall. Looked up to see a very decent looking early stage meth head picking up copper wire scraps. Not sure how she didn't see us. My wife had no idea this woman was behind her. When she saw me she just held up a 4" scrap of copper, asked if she could keep it. Told her yes, get out. She turned around and left on foot. Never knew where she came from or where she went. Never saw her again. A few days later, my wife saw flashlights in the house. We rented the place next door while building. It was a team of Messicans, construction workers from the look of the truck. They absolutely know what a shotgun racking a shell sounds like, I can confirm that. They are also faster than you'd think on foot. Driver left them all. They ran into the woods and the Sheriffs office picked them up on the other side of the 100+ acres they had to cross to get to their driver. Looking back it's funny as hell.

It did. Was deemed income.
Also couldn’t sell burnt copper unless you had letter from fire marshal, also couldn’t sell HVAC components without a letter from a licensed installer

Its also real easy to find a buyer who can't read but knows exactly what the price is down to the gram. And since he can't read, and your a thieving junky, he will happily take your word that the paperwork is good and give you half of what the metal is worth and you will be happy until the next fix wears off.

True. I was speaking from an honest band side. Because of all the theft by your example it made it harder for the honest man.

Several years ago, a few substations got broke into. Thieves would cut the ground wire on the tower legs and riser poles They would get 15-20 pieces of 4/0 bare copper 4-5 ft long. They did cut the grounds on a few power transformers and at one station they left the cutters and said to heck with this. Lucky they didnt get killed. The ground from a bushing of a power transformer can rattle your teeth when not grounded. TVA eventually caught a few stealing and it all stopped.

Been to a few homes where the gas was on and they stole the copper

The penny is going to be worth more than a dollar bill before long

Most utilities will not let you run gas in copper. Has to be galvanized/steel.