The importance of copper, now and in the future, was mentioned here a few days ago. It's a significant element in all industrial activities, and particularly in the production of chips and ancillaries of GAI data centers. There's speculation that drought produced by climate change will decrease mining production and make copper expensive.
It turns out that drought isn't the only problem with copper. As it's value increases, as it has, criminal elements are stealing it, by the truckload. It's then resold to others in the salvage business who pass it along, at a profit, to refiners where it re-enters the commercial market. At some point this issue will be resolved by considering copper to be such a high-value item that it will be guarded when not installed, although thieves steal it from operating streetlights and out of buildings, as they have for years.
Economists make the point that in a disaster situation, such as a tornado destroying a part of the countryside, it only makes sense that the local price of gasoline would go up. This means that only the people that really need the petrol will then buy it, a kind of sensible economic rationing.
If this is actually true, it might in a larger sense, be the case that theft of copper is a more efficient method of distributing it than the usual process. More fingers will be in the copper pie but the total cost they share can never be more than the price of copper itself. The only losers will be the victims of the theft and those spending the money to guarantee its safety. It will also be a boon to mines and smelters in the US closed by the EPA that will return to operation if the copper is really needed.