( 1 ) THIS is an International Award. It was made and published on 24/09/1997. By virtue of the award, the plaintiffs Thyssen Stahlunion Gmbh (in short TSU ) are entitled to the following sums :-

"a) US $ 2,184,079. 81 being the damages awarded to the plaintiffs for the first and the second lot. b) US $ 424,813. 85 being the interest awarded for the two lots till the date of the award. c) US $ 500,000 being legal costs awarded. under the award. d) USD 50,000 being costs of the arbitration awarded under the award. e) For the interest at the same rate as in the award from the date of the award till realization. "

( 2 ) DEFENDANT - Steel Authority of India Limited (in short SAIL) has assailed the award almost in entirety.

( 3 ) DISPUTES between the parties arose out of two contracts, one of which was admittedly a concluded contract against which supplies were made. It is dated 4. 3. 1994 which was subsequently amended on 12. 5. 1994 (hereinafter referred as "amendment ). Another is a disputed contract as no supplies were made against this contract.

( 4 ) FACTS germane for deciding the objections of sail lie in moderate compass.

( 5 ) ON 25. 11. 1993 SAIL made an offer for 10. 000 MTs of CRC i. e. first lot as per the following description;

"cold rolled steel sheets in coils (semi-killed quality) specification ASTM A366, rolling tolerance as per ASTM A568 with full thickness tolerance. "

( 6 ) ON 20/1/94 TSU responded by forwarding a set of tsg specifications sheets (for sub-lots) of Thyssen Steel group (hereinafter referred as tsg ) as TSU were in turn to re-sell the steel to TSG. These were as under :-

"prime cold rolled steel in coils, Class I in commercial quality according to ASTM A366, analysis at SAE 1008 temper rolled, fully annealed, matte finish, surface roughness 30-50 micro inch, oiled, no welds, Rockwell hardness 40-60 on the B scale, cut edge, edges cut on the pickle line prior to cold reduction is acceptable, thickness tolerances according. to ASTM 568 (aim for MAX 1/2 thickness standard ). The material must be free of defects, scratches, laminations, cross breaks, carbon smut, saw tooth edges etc. and suitable for continuous coil coating, levelling into flat sheets and/or slitting. "

( 7 ) HOWEVER, TSG also in turn agreed to sell various quantities to their own customers at various rates. Immediately upon the receipt of the TSG specifications, sail informed that they were not as per agreed range. This was followed by a FAX message dated 5. 2. 1994 from mr. Ramachandran of SAIL reacting to the TSG specifications received on 20/1/1994. SAIL rejected several of the key requirements of TSG specifications including temper rolling, hardness constraint, quantification of the acceptable surface roughness range and the expression relating to the material being free of surface defects and serrated edges and to be suitable for. continuous coil cutting and words "flatness very critical". TSG then sent a revised set of specifications dated 9. 2. 1994. These specifications still required class I material free of surface defects, scratches, laminations, cross breaks, carbon smut, saw tooth edges etc. and suitable for levelling into flat sheets and/or slitting. The requirement of Class I i. e. Full Finish material was maintained. However the expression "flatness very critical" and the suitability for continuous coil cutting were removed.

( 8 ) ON 17. 2. 1994 SAIL issued a letter of acceptance. wherein class I was deleted from the description and it was stated that the material was to be skin passed and flatness and surface conditions were to be as per rolling tolerance ASTM A568. However on 23. 2. 1994 TSG sent a fax message to. TSU regarding a second order for a further quantity of 10,000 MT of CRC to be shipped, in June, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as second lot ). This contract inter alia provided as follows;

"sail shall sell and TSU shall purchase 10,000 plus minus 5% metric tons of CRC to USA. "

( 9 ) RELEVANT po