Metals Row: Glencore Xstrata and JPMorgan accused

Mining giant Glencore Xstrata and Wall Street bank JPMorgan Chase are the latest firms to be named in a US lawsuit, along with the London Metal Exchange, pictured, alleging that they artificially inflated aluminium prices.

The suit, which also names Goldman Sachs and subsidiaries of Goldman and JPMorgan, accuses the firms of anti-trust and racketeering practices.

Warehouse owners have been accused by customers and regulators of artificially increasing times to deliver physical metals from warehouses to push up prices.

In the US the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Justice Department have launched probes into the warehouse system. There has been growing concern over the ownership of LME-authorised warehouses by investment banks and accusations that they have been stockpiling metals.

The latest case, filed by Florida-based aluminium user Master Screens and an individual plaintiff, expands the number of companies being sued.

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan dismissed the suit. “We believe this suit is without merit and we intend to vigorously contest it,” a Goldman Sachs spokesman said. Neither the LME nor Glencore would comment.