From Guardian Unlimited:
The next time Japanese children turn up at their local park to find that their slide has disappeared overnight, they could try blaming rocketing world metal prices.
Stainless steel slides are among a growing list of metal objects to have vanished in Japan in a spate of thefts that police are blaming on rising copper prices and the insatiable appetite for scrap metal in booming China.
Last year, 5,700 such robberies were reported in locations as far apart as Shizuoka, Hiroshima and Okinawa, the national police agency said. Industry insiders have been quick to point the finger at China, where the stolen metal is allegedly sold as scrap to feed a construction boom ahead of next summer’s Olympics.[Full Text]
