The government of Argentina announced that it is halting the export of scrap copper for 90 days. The decision, announced by Roberto Lavagna, Argentina’s Economy Minister, is to halt the widespread theft of electrical copper cables.
The South American country also announced that they are suspending the export of scrap aluminum due to the high amount of the metal being stolen from both public and private sources.
According to reports, close to 4,000 miles of copper cable, mostly in the form of electrical transmission and telephone transmission lines, have been stolen over the past year.
Last year Argentina exported around 763,000 tons of scrap with a value of close to $1 billion.