Rodwin Metals, Inc. v. Western Non-Ferrous Metals, Inc.

After a court trial, plaintiff recovered a judgment against defendant for breach of contract. Defendant appeals from the judgment.

By written contract dated August 25,1964, plaintiff agreed to sell defendant about 500 metric tons of lead fume. Under the terms of the agreement the material was to be ready “upon one week to ten days notice.” The contemplated time for delivery was “early September.” Physically the delivery was to be completed “within seven days total . . . F.A.S. Philadelphia Dock.” Defendant was to pay $10,000 when advised of the day delivery was to begin, the balance after an assay of the shipment and certain other documents were received. ;

The parties contemplated that, after the delivery to the dock, defendant would ship the lead fume to Japan. Plaintiff duly made arrangements to purchase the lead fume from its supplier. The supplier pressured plaintiff to pay for and remove the material from its yards, and plaintiff in turn began in early September to request that defendant fix a delivery date. Defendant, however, experienced difficulty in finding a vessel which would accept the shipment in bulk, and therefore declined to set a date.

During late…