Nature of the Case
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Facts
Koufos (P) chartered a ship (the Heron II) from Czarnikow (D) to bring 3,000 tons of sugar to Basra. The vessel, having unjustifiably deviated on her laden voyage, arrived at Basrah on 2 December, while normal length of this voyage shall be within twenty days. The cargo was late by nine days. In that time the sugar price had dropped from £32 10s to £31 2s 9d from the arrival of another ship before P. D knew of the sugar market but had no idea that P was shipping for immediate sale. If D had thought about the matter, he must have realized that it was not unlikely that the sugar would be sold on arrival at the then market price, and that prices were apt to fluctuate daily. D had no reason to suppose that the fluctuation would be downwards rather than upwards. P sued D for breach and damages being the difference in the prices. D got the verdict and P appealed. The appeals court held that the fall in market price was not too remote and reversed. D appealed to the House of Lords. On Hadley v Baxendale, D argued that the fluctuations of market due to unforeseen and unpredictable causes during the period of delay are not of themselves 'according to the usual course of things.'
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