Contracts II, Pages 845–848

Internatio-Rotterdam, Inc. v. River Brand Rice Mills, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit, 1958

Facts:

Defendant agreed to sell plaintiff 95,6000 pocket of rice for $8.25 to be delivered to Lake Charles and/or Houston, Texas in December 1952 with two weeks call from plaintiff. In the fall, defendant became concerned about port congestion. Defendant delivered 50,000 pockets at Lake Charles. However, defendant did not receive two weeks' notice specifying which port and ship to deliver to by December 18th, and thus defendant could not receive a call two weeks ahead of time in December anymore. Defendant promptly canceled the contract because the price of rice had risen to $9.75 since the contract was signed.

Issue:

Did defendant still have to deliver the rice without the two weeks notice?

Rule:

Reasoning:

As the condition precedent did not occur, defendant had no duty to sell the rice.

Holding:

Defendant did not have to deliver the rice still. Affirmed.