CALIFORNIA’S METAL THIEVES OPERATE IN A GLOBAL MARKET:

Sarah,

I read something pretty ridiculous today.  Thieves in California are stealing metal.  This metal ends up being sold to factories in China.  The Chinese factories then manufacture metal products with this metal and sell it back to California.  Here is a step by step breakdown:

1. California buys metal from China.  Cities buy copper wiring.  Churches buy church bells.  Farmers buy metal pipe for their irrigation systems.

2.  Thieves steal this metal.  Last year, ¼ of all Sacramento street lights went dark as a result of thieves stealing copper wiring.  A church in Pico Rivera had to replace a 200 pound church bell and farmers throughout the state had to replace their irrigation systems.

3.  The thieves sell this metal to local scrap yards and local scrap yards sell their metal to scrap yards in Los Angeles.  These Los Angeles scrap yards are close to the port of Los Angeles and the port of Long Beach.

4.  The Los Angeles scrap yards then load the metal on ships destined for China and other Asian countries.

5.  The Chinese factories receive the metal and make copper wire, church bells, and irrigation pipes.

6.  California buys back these metal products from China.

Bottom line: Wait a second, cheap Chinese labor is causing our homeless population to steal church bells and sell them overseas?  This is getting ridiculous.

Source: Los Angeles Times, “Illegal Scrap Yards Heaping Up” 8/22/2012