Materials Industry and Trade (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Vopak Terminals Singapore Pte Ltd – Singapore High Ct (Ang Cheng Hock J) [2019] SGHC 276 – 28 November 2019

Contract – Lien – Storage company exercising contractual lien over stored cargo in respect of sums outstanding from customer – Storage company disposing of liened cargo – Plaintiff claiming title to cargo – Whether plaintiff had title to cargo – Whether disposal of cargo by storage company constituted conversion as against plaintiff

In 2014 the plaintiff agreed to sell a cargo of about 2,000 mt of palm methyl ester (PME) to IBRIS Bio-fuels Pte Ltd (IBRIS). The PME purchased from the plaintiff was stored at the defendant’s Banyan Terminal, where IBRIS had the exclusive use of several of the defendant’s storage tanks pursuant to a service agreement.