Midgulf International Ltd v Groupe Chimique Tunisien – QBD (Com Ct) (Teare J) – 11 May 2009

Practice – Anti-suit injunction – Disputes arising under contract for sale of sulphur – Dispute as to whether contract contained London arbitration clause – Defendant bringing proceedings in Tunisia – Claimants applying for interim anti-suit injunction – Whether injunction should be granted – Whether claimant had established sufficiently high degree of probability that contract contained London arbitration clause

The claimant (“Midgulf”) was a trader in sulphur. The defendant (“GCT”) was a company owned by the state of Tunisia. In 2008 the parties entered into contracts for the sale and purchase of sulphur. The first contract (“the June contract”) was for the purchase by GCT of about 23,000 mt of sulphur. The second contract (“the July contract”) was for the sale and purchase of about 150,000 mt of sulphur. The June contract contained a London arbitration clause but there was a dispute as to whether the July contract did so.