b Regarding loss assessmentWe disagree with the opposite proposal to use the price adjustment clause in the contract to calculate the losses As the total damage include many damaged items and any

We respectfully disagree with the opposing proposal to use the price adjustment clause in the contract to calculate the losses. The total damage includes numerous damaged items, and any damaged beans, regardless of the degree of damage, will be measured equally as damaged beans. Therefore, even if two samples have the same total damage, the degree of damage to the beans may differ. Additionally, some indicators may not necessarily indicate economic losses. Moreover, the samples have been unloaded for several days, and the quality may have changed. Therefore, it is unreasonable to use the total damage index for loss calculation.

Regarding the losses claimed by the opposing party in production and products, we believe that there are too many processes involved, from the raw soybeans unloaded from the vessel to the various finished products produced by the factory. As the carrier, we cannot track and understand all of them. These losses may include various other factors, such as equipment factors, human factors, and testing errors, which are not related to the carrier. Our experts believe that the most reasonable method is to evaluate the losses based on the test results of the raw beans, and some processing data from the factory is necessary to understand the production technology and ordinary loss.

At the same time, we also requested information from the opposing party about the market situation and whether there are precedents or customary values of unit protein solubility for the claimed quality losses. The opposing party only referred to the price of the Dalian Commodity Exchange and adjusts the price according to their own sales needs, but did not disclose their pricing basis. Regarding the alleged soybean meal quality losses, the opposing party stated that they have not encountered similar situations and currently have no reference data