wrongful rejections

Koppers Company contracted with Nobs Chemical, U.S.A., Inc. and Calmon-Hill Trading Corporation to purchase 1000 metric tons of cumene. The plaintiffs had arranged to purchase the cumene from a Brazilian supplier for $400 per ton plus $45 per ton for transportation costs, for a total expense of $445,000. Koppers agreed to pay $540,000 under the contract. Koppers breached the contract. Nobs and Calmon-Hill brought suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and the case was tried before the court sitting without a jury. The district court found that the plaintiffs were entitled to recover $95,000 as lost profits. It denied recovery of an additional $25 per ton that the plaintiffs claimed they were forced to pay their Brazilian supplier when their total order was reduced from 4,000 metric tons to 3,000 metric tons because of the breach. Nobs and Calmon-Hill appealed the measure of damages applied by the district court and, assuming it was correct, challenged the computation of those damages. Koppers cross-appealed, claiming that the district court's calculation of damages under the lost profits method was incorrect, including by failing to account for a commission that Calmon-Hill would have paid Nobs and by questioning the proof of the cumene's source. At trial, G. B. Marinelli, a part owner of Calmon-Hill who was involved in the cumene transaction, testified that Calmon-Hill had an agreement with a Brazilian supplier to furnish 4,000 metric tons of cumene, 1,000 tons of which was for Koppers, and that the entire cost per ton including insurance and freight was somewhere between $445 and $450. Although counsel for Koppers attempted to impeach Marinelli on these points, he remained firm in his assertions.