R13m worth of copper stolen in September

Johannesburg - Copper theft increased to R13m in September, up from R12m the previous month, according to the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (Sacci) Copper Theft Barometer.

"This is the fourth monthly increase in the year in what has been a relatively volatile nine months to date, with the barometer ranging from R15.4m to R10.7m," Sacci said in a statement on Friday.

In terms of volume, copper theft increased to 173 metric tons in September, compared to 160 tons in August and 158 tons in July.

"The trend over the past nine months has been a definite setback from the earlier downward trajectory from 2012 to 2013 and suggests that the policy interventions against copper theft need to be ramped up."

South African exports of waste copper products dropped significantly to $7m (around R73.85m) in August from $15.4m (around R164m) in July and $24.6m (around R262m) in June 2014.

"Waste metal has been subject to a domestic preference pricing system (PPS) of 10% since September 2013, so the significant drop in exports in August is unlikely to be related to the PPS and likely to be a reporting issue or a structural factor," Sacci said.