Manual pipe cutter - video

[nova_robotics]

'scuse my ignorance, but what is the "market" for all these catalytic convertor thefts? we don't seem to have the issue where I live, but the video I see shows people cutting them out of cars and running off with them... but who actually buys them, and what for?

I know a guy who owns a junk yard. During the pandemic he said a larger catalytic converter from a truck was worth $1600 CAD in scrap, less for smaller cars. So an old junker truck with a V8, which should normally be worth a couple hundred bucks, would be worth $3200 if the only thing you did was cut the cats off of it.