A scrap yard owner believes the rise in copper prices and the cost of living crisis is making it "more inviting" for people to steal steel.
Copper theft has skyrocketed this year with the Hawke's Bay region reporting a 1000 percent increase in the number of missing copper earth cables - that's 35 missing copper cables. The Waipa network has reported around 45 thefts across its network since August. The cost is currently sitting at around $13 per kilogram.
Ingot Metals owner Aidan Bognuda told AM on Thursday the reason for the spike in copper prices is down to the international market.
"The price of copper in New Zealand is high because internationally it's high. We're seeing a wave of all the stuff going on overseas with wars. It's driving fuel prices up, it's driving inflation up, driving food prices up and that's driving scrap metal prices up," Bognuda explained.
He believes the price spike has led to copper theft skyrocketing.
"I think with this price hike going up, it's just become more inviting for people to want to make some extra cash or try and get rid of something. Whether it's legitimate, whether it's stolen, people are keen to recycle their scrap copper and now the price is up, it's pushed the theft up," he said.
But Bognuda believes it's just a small group of people who are ruining it and he hopes police can crack down on it.
"We're trying to eliminate those guys because it's dangerous for us, it's dangerous for them. The police know that we want to work with them, which we do and we've got a list of guys that we're not allowed to buy off," he told AM.
"So we're trying to be as tight as we can and discourage these guys from stealing scrap in the first place but people are desperate these days for some money and they're breaking into houses, they're stealing power tools, they're taking cars, it's it just really needs to be enforced and we try and do the best we can."
But despite the rise in copper theft, Bognuda believes the laws in place are making it tough for people to steal.
"They need to bring in a photo ID. They need to give us a driver's license or some sort of ID like that. We need to take down the rego of their car. We need to have their address, the time they came in. We take photos of all the products, we video it and we hold the product for two weeks," he said.
"Once that two-week window is gone then we on-sell the scrap for export. If someone has something stolen, they can come in and find it, they can have a look, but a lot of the time the scrap comes in, you process it, you wait and then you sell it."
When asked by AM co-host Ryan Bridge if there were dodgy scrap yard owners around the country, Bognuda doubted it as there wasn't anything to gain by doing that.
"If you're knowingly buying the scrap and it's stolen, you will lose your license, you'll lose your business. So there's no point for the scrap metal dealer to want to buy a dodgy scrap, to make a small amount of profit, to lose his whole business, it's not worth it."
Watch the full interview with Aidan Bognuda in the video above.
