Sherwin Alumina L.P. v. AluChem, Inc.
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
512 F. Supp. 2d 957 (2007)

- Written by Rich Walter, JD
Facts
Under the automatically renewable two-year contract between Sherwin Alumina L.P. (plaintiff) and AluChem, Inc. (defendant), Sherwin Alumina was AluChem’s exclusive supplier of calcined alumina. Only a few producers sold calcined alumina, a rare substance that was essential to AluChem’s business. Thus, when Sherwin Alumina threatened to cut off AluChem’s calcined-alumina supply before the end of the contract’s current two-year term, AluChem conducted a diligent but unsuccessful search for another supplier. Sherwin Alumina sued for a federal district court’s declaratory judgment enforcing the contract’s force majeure clause. AluChem moved for court-ordered specific performance under the Texas version of Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) § 2-716.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Jack, J.)
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