Texpar Energy Inc. v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
45 F.3d 1111 (1995)
Murphy (defendant) contracted to sell Texpar (plaintiff) 15,000 tons of asphalt at $53/ton, which Texpar planned to resell to Starry at $56/ton for a $45,000 profit, but after asphalt prices rose to $80/ton, Murphy delivered only half and refused further deliveries, forcing Starry to buy the remainder directly from Murphy at $68.50/ton and Texpar to pay Starry $191,000 to cover the price difference; a jury found for Texpar, and the district court awarded $386,370 in market damages based on the $53 contract price versus the $80 market price at breach, which Murphy challenged as exceeding Texpar's actual losses.
Whether, under the UCC, the appropriate measure of damages for a seller's failure to deliver goods is the difference between the contract price and the market price at the time of breach.