Missouri bill puts onus on scrap metal dealers to blunt wave of catalytic converter thefts by John Haughey, The Center Square contributor | April 06, 2021 04:00 PM Print this article Nationwide in 2019 an average of 282 catalytic converters were reported stolen from vehicles each month, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).
In pandemic-skewered 2020, however, more than 1,200 catalytic converters were reported stolen across the nation each month with 2,350 reported stolen in December alone.
And those numbers are increasing in 2021 as precious metals in catalytic converters – platinum (worth about $1,100 per ounce), palladium ($2,400 per ounce), and rhodium ($24,000 per ounce) – skyrocket, NICB maintains.
St. Louis, in particular, has been a hotbed of catalytic converter thefts, jumping more than eightfold to 240 in 2020 from 50 in 2019.