Lord Justice Toulson :

1. The appellant, Midgulf, seeks two orders: an order under s18 of the Arbitration Act 1996 for the appointment of an arbitrator to determine a dispute between itself and the respondent, GCT, relating to a contract made in July 2008 for the sale by Midgulf to GCT of 150,000 mt of sulphur, and an anti-suit injunction to restrain GCT from pursuing parallel proceedings in Tunisia. Both parties contend for the existence of a sale contract, but they differ in their analyses of what were the offer and acceptance and whether the dispute is governed by an English arbitration agreement. The jurisdiction dispute depends on the proper interpretation of a small number of communications between the parties. Teare J concluded that there was no arbitration agreement but he gave Midgulf permission to appeal.