NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday dismissed an antitrust lawsuit in which zinc purchasers accused affiliates of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Glencore Plc of conspiring to drive up the metal’s price. U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan said the purchasers failed to show that rising zinc prices resulted from a “plausible antitrust violation” under the Sherman Act, a federal antitrust law. The purchasers accused the defendants of having conspired since 2010 to curb supply and boost prices in connection with zinc stored in warehouses licensed by the London Metal Exchange. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
A lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and New York, accusing them of conspiring to drive up the price of the metal used to protect steel against corrosion, has been dropped after a Glencore district court found that "purchasers failed to show that the defendants artificially inflated zinc prices by violating the Sherman Act, a federal antitrust law". The alleged conspiracy involved hoarding and moving zinc from one warehouse to another, falsifying records and manipulation of London Metal Exchange (LME) rules. Metal purchasers said the moves caused artificial supply shortages that boosted prices, however, the judge said other factors could have influenced prices.