Precious Catalytic Converters Stolen In La Grange: Cops

La Grange IL

15 March, 2021

10:19 AM

Description

LA GRANGE, IL — The recent thefts of catalytic converters in La Grange may prompt a question: Why would anyone go to the trouble of stealing this car part? The short answer: It's worth a lot these days. The catalytic converters were stolen from cars earlier this month at East Harris and Seventh avenues and in the 1000 block of Eighth Avenue. The police reports did not indicate the worth of the catalytic converters Catalytic converters, which are part of cars' exhaust systems, contain precious metals. Those metals have become a lot more valuable during the pandemic because of supply issues. That has resulted in a wave of thefts of catalytic converters across the country. The converters contain metals such as palladium and rhodium, both of which are soaring in price. According to the New York Times, the price of rhodium has risen from $640 an ounce five years ago to $21,900 this year, about 12 times the price of gold.