# Damn, I guess copper price really ARE that high. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 29, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902 "2010-01-29T15:49:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902/1 "2010-01-29T15:49:15Z")
The morning news here in the San Francisco Bay Area [reported a downed power pole that was purposefully cut](http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=7246056) down so thieves could steal the copper in the wires. This was on a busy street and is still causing traffic issues. I looked up the [http://metalprices.com/FreeSite/metals/cu/cu.asp](http://metalprices.com/FreeSite/metals/cu/cu.asp), since I’ve noticed many stories lately of copper theft, particularly people breaking into foreclosed homes to rip out pipes. Holy Crap! A year ago it was less than 50¢ per pound, today it’s _freaking over $3.00 per pound_. :eek: Where do you sell black market copper? ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902/2 "2010-01-29T16:10:17Z")
I don’t know where they got their prices, but I don’t think copper went that low even at the bottom of the 2008 plunge. Copper bottomed on Comex at $1.2475 a pound on Dec. 24, 2008, according to Bloomberg, which still makes the rebound to today’s $3.0840 pretty impressive. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902/3 "2010-01-29T16:14:00Z")
Even at an impressive $3.00+ per pound, though, how much copper is in one pole’s worth of utility wires? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902/4 "2010-01-29T16:18:08Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Even at an impressive $3.00+ per pound, though, how much copper is in one pole’s worth of utility wires? Several hundred pounds…easily ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902/5 "2010-01-29T16:22:36Z")
I’d like to know how they sell it too. It can’t be just a matter of hopping down to the recycling station. Is it like the old automobile “Chop Shops” that were in every industrial park int he '70s? And wouldn’t you get more money selling it as actual wire? I mean, it’s been processed, refined, stretched out, insulated, why melt it again? ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902/6 "2010-01-29T16:45:32Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > It can’t be just a matter of hopping down to the recycling station. Yes, it can be. I work for an electrical utility and it happens all the time. ETA: Actually, if you mean a government run recycling plant, then no, there are plenty of privately run metal recyclers around that may look the other way when things come in. > [@TruCelt](#): > > And wouldn’t you get more money selling it as actual wire? I mean, it’s been processed, refined, stretched out, insulated, why melt it again? No one would use “Used” wire. Whenever wire is removed from service, we recycle it. We never reuse it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902/7 "2010-01-29T17:44:48Z")
Scrap yards buy metal. Unscrupulous ones won’t ask you any questions about where you got a truck load of old pipes. I believe there are some areas where laws have been passed to try to stop this. They require anyone selling copper to produce ID and the buyer has to maintain records. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902/8 "2010-01-29T18:10:53Z")
As someone who does sell (legally obtained) scrap for cash, yes, it’s well known among the folks who sell scrap (however obtained) that there are recyclers who don’t give a damn where it came from, and recyclers who do care. As a practical thing, under a certain amount no one will check up on you, so if you did your own home remodeling and wound up with a pound or two of old pipe you could probably take it just about anywhere with no problem. If you show up with 100 pounds reputable recyclers will ask questions. The place I usually goes to posts the weights at which you have to start providing proof stuff isn’t stolen for a variety of metals, copper and steel being the top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902/9 "2010-01-29T20:36:00Z")
Tell me about it. We just got $172 for a wad of copper wires I found in a basement. Wasn’t expecting that. No one at the place we turned it in asked us where is was from. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-i-guess-copper-price-really-are-that-high/526902/10 "2010-01-30T16:34:55Z")
Happens all the time around here. Burglars get the firemen called out to a house by ripping the gas pipes out without disconnecting them from the mains. One bloke got electrocuted trying to steal the wire that carried the electricity for the East Coast Main Line railway. Several cars were damaged driving over manholes whose covers had been stolen.