Goldman offers immediate access to aluminum after customer complaints about delays that inflate prices

Goldman Sachs Group Inc said on Wednesday that it would offer customers of its Metro International metals warehouse business immediate access to aluminum held up in queues through an exchange deal with the bank.

“In light of the concerns that end-users have raised about their access to aluminum they are holding in warehouses, Goldman Sachs is contacting end users to offer to swap any aluminum currently in the queue for immediately available aluminum so that they have access to the metal they need to make or package their products,” the bank said in a statement outlining ways to speed up aluminum delivery from London Metal Exchange warehouses.

Goldman has come under regulatory and political pressure in recent weeks as major consumers of aluminum have complained about waiting excessive amounts of time to get access to the metal, boosting prices for companies and consumers.

Regulators including the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission have both launched preliminary investigations into Wall Street banks and other large commodity traders who own metal warehouses, Reuters has reported.