Decisionon Dismissal
By
China International Economic and Trade
Arbitration Commission
CLAIMANT: AUBEMA Crushing Technology GmbH
(Former Name: AUBEMA MASCHINENFABRIK GMBH)
ADDRESS: Koelner Strasse 94, D-51702, Bergneustadt, Germany
ARBITRATION AGENT: Mr. Tim Meng, Attorney at Law
RESPONDENT: Shanghai Mindac Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd.
ADDRESS: Unit A,23 FL., Majesty Building, No. 138 Pudong Avenue,
Pudong District, Shanghai, P.R.C.
ARBITRATION AGENTS:Ms. Mao Shujing & Mr. Qiao Yanchun,
Attorneys at Law
April 17,2008
Beijing,China
Decision on Dismissal of the Case Numbered
M20070407
(2008) CIETAC Award No. 0190
The China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (hereinafter referred to as “the CIETAC”)accepted a reference of a dispute arising out of the CONTRACT FOR PROCUREMENT OF HAMMER MILL FOR SHANXI YANGGAO JINNENG NEW ENERGY POWER PLANT, 2×50 MW UNIT PROJECT (CONTRACT NO.: MINDAGAUB-YAMGGAO-2004-227, hereinafter referred to as “the Contract”) signed by and between the Claimant AUBBMA Crushing Technology GmbH (former Name: AUBEMA MASCHINENFABRIK GMBH, hereinafter referred to as “the Claimant”)and the Respondent Shanghai Mindac Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to the “the Respondent”)on 27 September 2004.
The dispute was referred to the CIE1AC pursuant to Clause 24 “Resolution of Disputes”of the Contract. It states as follows:
“24.1 All dispute arising from the execution of or in connection with the Contract shall be settled through friendly Consultation by both parties. In case no settlement can be reached within sixty (60) days of commencement of such consultation, the dispute shall be submitted for arbitration.
24.2 Arbitration organization shall be China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC). The Commission comprises two person chose by both parties respectively and one person negotiated by both parties.
……”
The CIETAC took cognizance of the dispute for arbitration based on the arbitration clause incorporated in the Contract, and the written arbitration application filed by the Claimant on 1 August 2007. The CIETAC number of the case is M20070407 to which the Arbitration Rules of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission effective as from 1 May 2005 (hereinafter referred to as “the CIETAC Arbitration Rules”)applies.
A Notice of Arbitration was sent to the Claimant and the Respondent respectively on 14 September 2007 by the Secretariat of the CIETAC (hereinafter referred to as “the Secretariat”) Attached to the Notice of Arbitration to the Claimant were the Panel of Arbitrators and CIETAC Arbitration Rules, and to the Respondent were the Application for Arbitration submitted by the Claimant, the Panel of Arbitrators and the CIETAC Arbitration Rules.
On 13 November 2007, the Respondent submitted the Defense Submission, the Statement of Counterclaims and attached evidence. The Secretariat transmitted these documents to the Claimant. The Respondent had handled with the counterclaim accepting procedure on 27 November 2007.
During the arbitration procedure, the Claimant submitted the Application for Withdrawing (Re: Arbitration Case No. M20070407) dated 7 April 2008, which is as follows:
“The Claimant and Respondent signed a Settlement Agreement on March 31, 2008. More than one week has passed since parties show no signs of retrograde movement.
As such, in accordance with Article 41 of the applied 'Arbitration Rules5 in this case and further to our last request, we hereby request a withdrawal of the claims made by us in the Arbitration Request.”
The Respondent submitted its application for withdrawal (Re: CIETAC Cases No. M20070407) on 10 April 2008, stating that:
“The captioned case was brought to arbitration on July 31,2007, and was accepted by your good Commission on September 14, 2007. Finally, the parties reached a settlement. We hereby represent MINDAC to withdraw the captioned application to close the procedure in your good Commission.”
It is stipulated in Article 41.2 of the CIETAC Arbitration Rules that where a case is to be dismissed before the formation of the arbitral tribunal, the decision shall be made by the Secretary-General of the CIETAC. Where the case is to be dismissed after the formation of arbitral tribunal, the decision shall be made by the arbitral tribunar, Therefore, according to the Claimants5 and the Respondents5 request for withdrawal of this case, the Secretary-General of the CIETAC has made the following decisions:
1、that the captioned No. M20070407 Arbitration Case on Disputes Arising out of the CONTRACT FOR PROCUREMENT OF HAMMER MILL FOR SHANXI YANGGAO JINNENG NEW ENERGY POWERPLANT, 2x50 MW UNIT PROJECT (CONTRACT NO MINDACAUB-YANGGAO-2004-227) between the Claimant and the Respondent is dismissed;
2、that the arbitration fee for claims of this case is USD1,087 witchshall be borne by the Claimant, since the Claimant has remlli6d USD 2,548 as the prepaid arbitration fee, the Arbitration Commission is to refund the Claimant USD 1,461 after subtracting the arbitration fee from the prepaid amount; the arbitration fee for counterclaims of this case is RMB3,333, since the Respondent has remitted RMB 10,000 as the prepaid arbitration fee, the Arbitration Commission is to refund the Respondent RMB6,667 after subtracting the arbitration fee from the prepaid amount. Since the Claimant has remitted USD 1,500 as the prepaid fee for appointing three-member tribunal, the CIETAC is to refund the Claimant USD1,500.
Secretary-General of the CIETAC
April 17,2008 at Beijing,China
Arbitration Request
Contract No: MINDACAUB-ZHUNNENG-2004-230
Claimants:Shanghai Mindac Machinery & Equiment Co.Ltd
(Referred as Mindac hereafter)
Legal representative: Ms. Fu Minyan, General Manager
Address:Unit A, 23 FL., Majesty building, No. 138 Pudong Avenue, Pudong
District, Shanghai.
Arbitration agents: Ms. Mao Shujing & Mr.Qiao Yanchun
Attorneys of Rolmax Beijing
Address: Room 1002, Zhejiang Building, No.26 Qu 3, An Zhen Xi Li, District, chaoyang
Disrict,Beijing.
Tel: 010-6445-3741 Fax:010-6441-1706
Respondents: AUBEMA Crushing Technology GmbH (whose original name was Aubema Maschinenfabrik GmbH, see Mindac exhibit 1, P 2)
(Referred as AUBEMA hereafter)
Address: Koelner Strasse 94 D-51702 Bergneustadt, Germany Tel: 0049-22614094-301 Fax: 0049-22614094-9301
Arbitration clauses ( see Mindac exhibit 3 . P31)
24.1 All dispute arising from the execution of or in connection with the Contract shall be settled through friendly consultation by both parties. In case no settlement can be reached within sixty (60) days of commencement of such consultation, the dispute shall be submitted for arbitration.
24.2 Arbitration organization shall be China International Economic and Trade
Arbitration Commission (CIETAC). The commission comprises two person chose by
······
24.6 Unless both parties agree, the official language of arbitration shall be I English.
Claims:
1.AUBEMA pay Mindac USD 44,000.00 as liquidated damages for late Jftielivery of equipment and technical documents.
2.AUBEMA supply Mindac test plan (lset), static and dynamic report (10sets),layout calculation for mill size (l0sets), performance test report draft (l0sets), standards (l0sets) and material quality certificate (lOsets).
3.AUBEMA compensate Mindac Euro 7,280.00 for the technical service
provided by Mindac.
4.AUBEMA pay Mindac USD 7,348.00 as penalty for weight shortage of the
equipment.
5.AUBEMA pay all arbitration fees arising from this claim as well as Mindac’s attorney fee.
Facts:
AUBEMA and Mindac signed “ales contract”(see Mindac exhibit 3) and “technical agreement”(see Mindac exhibit 4) on September 27,2004,agreeing Mindac buy two sets of hammer mill, relevant goods and technical services fromAUBEMA, the price isUSD440,000.00(see Mindac exhibit 3, Pis), the end user is
Inner Mongolia Zhunneng Power Co,Ltd.
1.AUBEMA breached the contract and delivered goods late and shall pay _ndac liquidated damages.
11.3 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P23) says that The Seller shallcomplete the delivery for all the Contract Equipment under FOB terms before January 15, 2005.
11.1of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P22) says that Delivery time shall be counted from the date of effectiveness of Contract until delivery date, which is (1) FOB Contract Equipment: the date of the Bill oflading.
The date of bill of lading is February 18,2005 (see Mindac exhibit 5, P67).
19.1 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P29) says In case the Seller fails to make delivery on time as stipulated in the Contract (with exception of Force -Majeure Clauses specified), the Buyer shall agree to postpone the delivery on thecondition that the Seller agrees to pay liquidated damages. The rate of liquidated %dama2es is charged at one percent (1%) for every seven (7) calendar days of the first14 days, and at 2% for every seven (7) days countingfrom the 15 day, odd days lessthanseven days being counted as seven days. In case the days that the Seller fails to make delivery exceed 6 weeks, the Buyer is entitled to cancel the whole or part of the contract and reserve the right to make claim.
The time AUBEMA delayed is from January 15, 2005 to February 18, 2005. The time delayed is 34 days. According to the contract, AUBEMA shall pay MindacUSD440,000.00×l%×2+USD440,000.00×2%×[(34-14)÷7≈3]=USD35,200.00 as liquidated damages.
2.AUBEMA breached the contract and didn’t provide technical documents )according to the sales contract and the technical agreement, so they shall pay Mindac liquidated damages according to the contract.
Mindac paid for technical documents and technical documents are within the scope of supply according to the sales contract.
2.2 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P18) says that The Seller agrees to supply to the Buyer all the Technical Documentation necessary for system design,inspection, erection, commissioning performance test, reliability run, operation and maintenance, etc. of the Contract Equipment. The expenses for the Technical Documentation are included in the total Contract Price.
1.1 (c) of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P17) says “The Goods'' means certain quantity and type of the equipment, machinery, instruments, spare parts, tools and materials for Inner Mongolia Zhunneng Power Co,, Ltd.,2X150MW Unit Project in the scope agreed by the Parties as stipulated hereinafter to the Contract (hereinafter referred to as “the Contract Equipment” as well as all of the technical documents incurred and associated with the design, manufacture, inspection, erection, commissioning, performance test reliability run, operation and maintenance, etc, of the Contract Equipment (hereinafter referred to as “he Technical Documentation”)
19.2 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P29) says If, due to Seller's reason, the crucial technical document which is considered to seriously affect the construction by both parties could not be delivered according to the contract, then the Seller shall pay penalty, the rate of penalty is charged at USD350.00 per copy for every seven (7) calendar days.
2.1 AUBEMA shall provide Mindac with a test plan concerning performance test,but they haven’t provided. They shall pay Mindac penalty.
8.2.1 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P61) says The hammer mill must be trial run without load before delivery and can be delivered after passing test by the Buyer. Workshop and onsite test shall be carried out to verify that the material, process and performance of the equipment meet the requirements of applied standards and this technical agreement. The Seller shall formulate a complete testplan concerning the inspection and testing items, procedures and acceptance criteria. This plan in written shall submit to BUYER within 15 days after the contract is signed for review and approval.
According to 8.2.5 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P61)the testing items include performance test of the whole equipment.
2.2,13.1,14.7of the sales contract and 5.23, 9.1.2 of the technical agreement as well as other related clauses of the sales contract and technical agreement also express the same meaning.
2.2 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3,P18) says that The Seller agrees to supply to the Buyer all the Technical Documentation necessary for system design, inspection, erection, commissioning, performance test、reliability run, operation and maintenance,etc. of the Contract Equipment....
13.1 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P26)says that The erection, performance test and reliability run of the Contract Equipment shall be conducted by the Buyer in accordance with the Technical Documentation provided by the Seller and under the technical instruction given by the Seller’stechnical personnel…
14.7 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P27) says that, after stable operation of the contract equipment (approx, 3 month after start-up) a performance test shall be executed based on a mutually agreed upon test program....
5.2.3 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P54) says The technical documents provided by the Seller shall meet the requirement for four project stages, engineering stage,equipment supervision, inspection, commissioning stage and performance acceptance test stage and operation maintenance stage.
9.1.2 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 45 P63) says that After the Contract become effective, the Seller should provide the Buyer with plan and standards related to supervision, inspection and performance acceptance of the equipment.
AUBEMA haven’provided test plan concerning performance test by now. According to 8.2.1 of the technical agreement, this test plan in written shall be submitted to Mindac within 15 days after the contract is signed.
The sales contract and technical agreement were both signed on September 27,2004. According to 8.2 1of the technical agreement, AUBEMA shall submit one test plan before October 13, 2004, but they haven5t done till now. When counting from October 13, 2004 to July 20, 2007, the delayed time is 1009 days.
According to 19.2 of the sales contract, AUBEMA shall pay Mindac350.00×(1010÷7)×l = USD50,400.00 as penalty for failure to provide the test plan.
2.2 According to the sales contract and technical agreement, AUBEMA shall supply Mindac static and dynamic report(10 sets), layout calculation for mill size (10 sets), performance test report draft (10 sets), standards (10 sets), and material quality certificate (10 sets )3 but they haven’t provided these documents by now and shall pay Mindac penalty.
5.3 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P54) lists some of the technical documents that AUBEMA shall supply. This list includes static and dynamic report (l0sets), layout calculation for mill size (l0sets), performance test report draft (10sets),standards (l0sets) and material quality certificate (l0sets).
Other clauses of the sales contract and technical agreement also mention some of
the above documents.
2.5.7 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P44) says that Static balance test shall be carried out before assembling beater heads and beater arms.Dynamic balance test shall be carried in the Seller workshop acc. Q16DIN ISO 1940. before the dynamic balance test, the Seller shall invite 5 people from the Ender user -attend the test and provide the Seller (spellingmistake, shall be “Buyer”) a complete test report. The witness by the End user's representative shall not release theSellerfrom the responsibility in successive work....
According to 5.1.2.2 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P52), JEMA shall supply Mindac installation quality standard, maintenance quality standard for each part and equipment and other related standards.
2.4.5 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P42) says thatAllmaterialpart (or element) shall be brand new and qualified and meet requirements of therelevant norms, suitable for the conditions at the job site. The purchased parts and material shall be high quality, advanced and energy-saving products with quality certificate. The seller is responsible for inspection and guarantees the product quality.
8.1.4 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P60) says that The Seller all provide the certificate of the material, manufacturing record and certificate of theproducts. The sell shall also provide the certificate of quality for purchased parts.
AUBEMA shall supply Mindac the above documents, but they haven’tsupplied
now.
Note 4 of 5.3 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P55) says nine sets of technical documents shall be delivered with the equipment and one set of technical document shall be provided by post.
Note 3 of 5.3 of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P55) says the are calculated after this technical annex signature. Thefinaltechnical documents shall be provided with the equipment.
11.3 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P23) says that The Seller shall complete the delivery for all the Contract Equipment under FOB terms before January 15, 2005, so these documents shall be delivered with the equipment before January 15, 2005. AUBEMA haven't supplied till now. When counting from January 15,2005 to July 20,2007, the time delayed is 918 days.
According to 19.2 of the sales contract, AUBEMA shall pay Mindac 350.00×(918÷7)×l0×5 =USD2,295,000.00 as penalty for failure to provide static anddynamic report(l0sets), layout calculation for mill size(l0sets), performance test report draft(l0sets), standards(l0sets) and material quality certificate(l0sets).
3.AUBEMA pay Mindac USD44,000.00 as liquidated damages for late delivery of equipment and technical documents.
According to“1”and “2”AUBEMA pay Mindac USD35,200.00+ USD50,400.00 + USD2,295,000.00=USD 2,380,600.00 as liquidated damages.
According to 19.4 of sale contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P29), the liquidated damages for delay of delivery of equipment and technical documents shall not exceed 10% of the total contract price, namely USD44,000.00, so Mindac requires AUBEMA pay liquidated damages of USD 44,000.00 for the delay of delivery of equipment and technical documents.
4.According to relevant laws, after AUBEMA pay liquidated damages,they shall still provide Mindac test plan (lset), static and dynamic report (l0sets), layout calculation for mill size (l0sets), performance test report draft (l0sets), standards(l0sets) and material qualitycertificate (l0sets).
5.AUBEMA didn't provide technical service according to the sales contract and technical agreement, and they shall pay for Mindac s services.
The sales contract and the technical agreement stipulate the content of technical service and the requirements for technician.
1.1. (d) of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, Pn ) says The''Services”, means technical instruction on erection, calibration, performance test, reliability run, provisionof technical assistance, supervision and realization of commissioning trainingand other such obligations of the Seller covered under this Contract.
17.2 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P28) says The Seller's technical personnelshall, on behalf of the Seller, undertake the tasks and obligations as specified in the Contract to be implemented by the Seller in connection with erection. Constructioncommissioning, performance test and reliability run of the Contract Equipment.
The Seller's technical personnel shall perform their duties in accordance witheachspecialty, to give technical instructions and necessary demonstration on the problems relating to erection, construction, adjustment, commissioning,performancetest and reliabilityrun of the Contract Equipment and to Rive detailed explanation on the Technical Documentation, drawings and operation instructions provided by the Seller....
5.5.6 ,2) (Obligation of the Seller's service staff), (1) of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P56) says that The site service staff is mainlyresponsiblefor urging the equipment delivery, open-case inspection of the equipment, dealing with quality issues, guiding installation and trial, attending commissioning and performance acceptance test.
2.3 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P18) says the Sellerhealthyshall send his competent and qualified technical personnel to the Site to give technical service. The expenses for the technical service are included in the total Contractsimilar work.
17.1of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit P28 ) says The Seller shall be responsible to send to the Site qualified, competent, skilled and healthy technical personnel who basically have more than six (6) years or rich experience in doingthesimilar work.
17.3 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P29) says the Buyer shall be entitled to demand the replacement of anyof the Seller's technical personnel and all theexpense arisingfrom the replacement shall be borne by the Seller.
Since AUBEMA didn’t provide such necessary services as those for commissioning,under such circumstance, Mindac had to provide technical service toavoid delaying the proceeding and make lesser losses for the end user.
From October 26, 2005 to November 5, 2005, Mindac sent their engineer Lijingyi to thejobsite to provide technical service for cold commissioning, (see Mindac exhibit 6, P68)
OnDecember 8, 2005, the end user, Inner Mongolia Zhunneng Power Co., Ltd faxed (see Mindac exhibit 6, P70) Mindac to require dispatching professional engineers for commissioning. Mindac sent their engineer Li Jingyi to the jobsite to provide technical service from December 22, 2005 to January 1, 2006. (see Mindac exhibit 6, P71Later, Mindac also provided technical service for the end user from February 18, 2006 to February 21, 2006 for the performance test (see Mindac exhibit 6,P73).
The total service time is 26 days.
Although the sales contract doesn’t clearly say the price of technical service, it does include technical service fee. AUBEMA’s offer for technical service amounted to USD 800.00 per day per person. AUBEMA charged for their technical service in the contract, but they didn’t provide relevant technical service, Mindac had to do it by selves. So, Mindac are entitled to deduct that amount from the contract price.
Mindac tried to negotiate with AUBEMA and require them to pay for fees of substitute of technical service at EUR 280.00 per day (see Mindac exhibit 6,P75),which is lower than the actual contract price between both. AUBUMEA shall pay MindacEuro280×26=Euro7,280.00 for their service. And this rate was confirmed by AUBEMA (see Mindac exhibit 6, P77-78).
6.AUBEMA breached the contract and supplied the Hammer Mill short of sight, so they shall pay penalty.
12.7 of the sales contract (see Mindac exhibit 3, P25) says that...Should the weight of the contract goods is found not corresponding to the stipulation of the attached Technical Agreement, then the Seller shall pay the penalty as per following if the weight tolerance is within ±2% of rated weight, there is no penalty: if the weight is 3% less than the rated weight, then for each percentage over than 2% tolerance, the Seller shall pay 1% of total contractprice: if the weight is 10% less the rated weight, then except for the corresponding penalty, the Seller shall have theright to reject the contract goods and claim for all direct costs.
AUBEMA shall pay penalty for shortage of the weight of hammer mill.
3.1, 15) of the technical agreement (see Mindac exhibit 4, P48) says that the weight of Hammer Mill is 30,500.00kg (only machine main body). The weight recorded in the Weight Certificate issued by AUBEMA (see Mindac exhibit 7, P79) is29.3 80.00kg. The weight stated by AUBEMA is30,500.00kg-29,380.00kg=l,120.00kg lighter than that agreed. The ratio of shortage is 1120.00+30500 x 100% = 3.67%。
AUBEMA shall pay MindacUSD440,000.00×(3.67%-2%) = USD 7,348.00as penalty for shortage of the weight of hammer mill.
7.The hammer mills AUBEMA supplied have many quality defects.
AUBEMA’s breach of the contract made lots of troubles for Mindac. Besides above mentioned acts of breach of the contract, the hammer mills AUBEMA supplied also have some other quality defects although their certificate of quality says highly of their hammer mills (see Mindac exhibit 8,P90).
For example, a beater arm shaft had no safety pin (see Mindac exhibit 8, P92).
A labyrinth sealing gave off smoke (see Mindac exhibit 8,P104).
The oil sealing cracked (see Mindac exhibit 8, P112-113).
Vibration speed exceeded the standard (see Mindac exhibit 8, P115-116).
AUBEMA shall burden the responsibilities for breach of contracts.
Served by