CABOT CORP

General

Cabot is a global specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Our principal products are reinforcing and specialty carbons, specialty compounds, conductive additives, carbon nanotubes, fumed metal oxides, inkjet colorants and aerogel. Cabot and its affiliates have manufacturing facilities and operations in the United States (“U.S.”) and over 20 other countries. Cabot’s business was founded in 1882 and incorporated in the State of Delaware in 1960. The terms “Cabot”, “Company”, “we”, and “our” as used in this report refer to Cabot Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries.

In early fiscal 2022, we introduced our “Creating for Tomorrow” growth strategy. This strategy is focused on investing for advantaged growth, developing innovative products and processes that enable a better future, and driving continuous improvement in all we do. Our products are generally based on technical expertise and innovation in one or more of our four core competencies: making and handling very fine particles; modifying the surfaces of very fine particles to alter their functionality; designing particles to impart specific properties to a formulation; and combining particles with other ingredients to deliver a formulated performance intermediate or composite. We focus on creating particles, and formulations of those particles, with the composition, morphology and surface functionalities to deliver the requisite performance to support our customers’ existing and emerging applications.

Our business is currently organized into two reportable segments: Reinforcement Materials and Performance Chemicals. Our business segments are discussed in more detail later in this section.

Our internet address is www.cabotcorp.com. We make available free of charge on or through our website our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as soon as reasonably practicable after electronically filing such material with, or furnishing it to, the SEC. Information appearing on our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated in, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Products

Carbon black is a form of elemental carbon that is manufactured from by-product feedstock streams in a highly controlled process to produce particles and aggregates of varied size, structure and surface chemistry, resulting in many different performance characteristics for a wide variety of applications. Reinforcing carbons (a class of carbon blacks manufactured by Cabot) are used to enhance the physical properties of the systems and applications in which they are incorporated.

Our reinforcing carbons products are used in tires and industrial products. Reinforcing carbons have traditionally been used in the tire industry as a rubber reinforcing agent to increase tread durability and are also used as a performance additive to reduce rolling resistance and improve traction. In industrial products such as hoses, belts, extruded profiles and molded goods, reinforcing carbons are used to improve the physical performance of the product, including the product’s physical strength, fluid resistance, conductivity and resistivity.

In addition to our reinforcing carbons, we manufacture engineered elastomer composites (“E2C®”) solutions that are composites of reinforcing carbons and rubber made using our patented elastomer composites manufacturing process. These composites improve abrasion/wear resistance, reduce fatigue of rubber parts and reduce rolling resistance compared to reinforcing carbons/rubber compounds made entirely by conventional rubber mix methods enabling rubber product manufacturers to reduce the need to make performance trade-offs. The use of E2C®solutions enables our customers to produce better performing tires, including giant off-the-road tires and on-road commercial tires, as well as other rubber products used in high-wear applications such as mining. Additionally, because E2C®solutions can be integrated into current product methods without additional significant capital investment, and require fewer mixing stages, lower mixing temperatures and shorter mixing cycles than conventional products, operating and production costs may be reduced. E2C® is one of our focus areas for growth.

In fiscal 2023, we launched a new technology platform, EVOLVE® Sustainable Solutions. Our ambition under this platform is to work with customers and technology partners to develop products with reliable performance and produced at industrial scale across three sustainability categories: Renewable, Recovered and Reduced, meaning products made with renewable materials or materials recovered from end-of-life tires and/or using processes that result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Drivers of Demand and Sales and Customers

Demand for our Reinforcement Materials products is largely driven by the growth and development of the tire and automotive industries. In addition to general global economic conditions, demand for reinforcing carbons in tires is mainly influenced by the number of replacement and original equipment tires produced, which in turn is driven by (i) vehicle and driving trends, including the number of miles driven, and the number of vehicles produced and registered, (ii) changes in supply chain inventory levels to adapt to end-market demand, (iii) demand for high-performance tires, (iv) demand for larger tires and larger vehicles, such as trucks, buses, off-road vehicles used in agriculture, mining and similar vehicles, (v) demand for electric and hybrid vehicles, (vi) consumer and industrial spending on new vehicles and (vii) changes in regulatory requirements impacting vehicle fuel efficiency and tire regulations. Demand for reinforcing carbons for industrial products is mainly influenced by vehicle production and design trends, construction activity and general industrial production.

Demand in the developed Western European, Japanese, and North American regions is mainly driven by demographic changes, customers’ high-quality requirements, stringent tire regulation standards, changes in consumer preference (e.g., different tire sizes, model and powertrain types), and relatively stable tire replacement demand. Demand in developing markets, such as China, Southeastern Asia, South America and Eastern Europe, has been mainly driven by the growing middle class, rapid industrialization, infrastructure spending and car ownership trends and demand for products exported from these regions to the Western markets. The growth in vehicle production, and in exports, in turn drives demand for both original equipment tires and replacement tires in developing regions.

Sales of reinforcing carbons and E2C®solutions are made primarily by Cabot employees and secondarily through distributors and sales representatives. We typically “make and sell” in region, which, among other advantages, provides our customers a regional supply chain and typically reduces transportation costs. Sales to five major tire customers represent a material portion of Reinforcement Materials’ total net sales and operating revenues. The loss of any of these customers, or a significant reduction in volumes sold to them, could have a material adverse effect on the segment until such business is replaced.

Under appropriate circumstances, we have entered into supply arrangements with certain customers, the typical duration of which is one year. These arrangements typically provide for sales price adjustments to account for changes in relevant feedstock costs including natural gas and, in many cases, changes in other relevant costs (such as the cost of CO 2 credits in Europe, vendor financing and product delivery). In fiscal 2024, approximately two-thirds of our reinforcing carbons volume was sold under these supply arrangements. The majority of the volumes sold under these arrangements are sold to customers in the Americas and Europe.

Much of the reinforcing carbons we sell is used in tires and automotive products and, therefore, our financial results may be affected by the cyclical nature of the automotive industry. However, the majority of the market for our products is in replacement tires that historically has been less cyclical as demand for replacement tires is correlated to miles driven.

Competition

We are one of the leading manufacturers of carbon black in the world. We compete in the sale of reinforcing carbons with four companies that operate globally and numerous other companies that operate regionally, a number of which export product outside their region of manufacture. We also compete with substitute products, specifically precipitated silica, and products marketed as being made with more sustainable material, specifically reclaimed carbon, sometimes referred to as recovered carbon black. Competition for our Reinforcement Materials products is based on product performance, quality, reliability, price, service, technical innovation, sustainability performance, and logistics. We believe our product differentiation, technological leadership, global manufacturing presence, operations and logistics excellence, sustainability performance, and customer service provide us with a competitive advantage.

Raw Materials

The principal raw material used in the manufacture of our reinforcing carbons is composed of by-product residual heavy oils derived from petroleum refining operations, the distillation of coal tars, and the production of ethylene throughout the world. This "feedstock" is not made-for-purpose, but is a by-product stream of other industrial processes and would generally otherwise be consumed as a fuel oil and burned for heat or power. Natural gas is also used as a feedstock in the production of our reinforcing carbons. Our manufacturing process also requires water and electricity. Raw materials are, in general, readily available and in adequate supply. Raw material costs generally are influenced by the availability of various types of our feedstocks, supply and demand of such raw materials and related transportation costs.

Operations

We own, or have a controlling interest in, and operate plants that produce reinforcing carbons in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands and the U.S. An equity affiliate operates a reinforcing carbons plant in Venezuela. In addition, we have a 98% ownership interest in an entity that manufactures our E2C® products in Port Dickson, Malaysia.

The following table shows our ownership interest as of September 30, 2024 in operations in which we own less than 100%:

In 2024, we began an expansion project at our Cilegon, Indonesia plant to add approximately 80,000 metric tons of capacity for reinforcing carbons which we anticipate becoming available in fiscal 2025.

In addition to carbon black, our manufacturing processes produce usable energy in the form of tailgas, as a by-product. Nine of our reinforcing carbons manufacturing sites and four reinforcing carbons/specialty carbons manufacturing sites have energy centers, and we are currently installing an energy center at our reinforcing carbons plant in Ville Platte, Louisiana. These energy centers allow us to utilize the tailgas through some form of energy co-generation, such as steam or electricity. We can use this co-generated energy internally to reduce our manufacturing operating costs, or sell it and generate revenues from these energy center operations.

In Performance Chemicals, we design, manufacture and sell materials that deliver performance in a broad range of customer applications across the automotive, construction, infrastructure, inkjet printing, electronics, and consumer products sectors and in applications related to the generation, transmission and storage of energy. In this reporting segment we combine our specialty carbons, specialty compounds, battery materials, fumed metal oxides, aerogel and inkjet product lines. Our focus areas for growth include conductive additives and other materials for battery applications, and inkjet dispersions for post print corrugated packaging applications. The recent investments we have made for growth in this segment, including in respect of these specific areas of focus, are described below under the heading “Operations”.

Products

Carbon black is a form of elemental carbon that is manufactured in a highly controlled process to produce particles and aggregates of varied structure and surface chemistry, resulting in many different performance characteristics for a wide variety of applications.

Our specialty carbons are used to impart color, provide rheology control, enhance conductivity and static charge control, provide UV protection, enhance mechanical properties, and provide formulation flexibility through surface treatment. These specialty carbon products are used in a wide variety of applications, such as plastics, which applications represent the largest use for our products, inks, coatings, adhesives, toners, batteries, and displays.

Our masterbatch and conductive compound products, which we refer to as “specialty compounds”, are formulations derived from specialty carbons mixed with polymers and other additives. These products are generally used by plastic resin producers and converters in applications for the automotive, industrial, packaging, infrastructure, agriculture, consumer products, and electronics industries. As an alternative to directly mixing specialty carbon blacks, these formulations offer greater ease of handling and help customers achieve their desired levels of dispersion and color and manage the addition of small doses of additives. In addition, our electrically conductive compound products generally are used to help ensure uniform conductive performance and reduce risks associated with electrostatic discharge in plastics applications.

Our battery materials products include our conductive additives and fumed alumina, which are used principally in advanced lead acid and lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. Our conductive additives consist of conductive carbons, carbon nanotubes and carbon nano structures, and blends of these materials, each of which offers different levels of conductivity and formulation flexibility for battery manufacturers to address performance (energy density, fast charging), cost and safety. In lithium-ion batteries, our conductive additives are used in both cathode and anode applications to increase energy density by providing a conductive network between active materials. Fumed alumina is used to reduce cathode material and electrolyte decomposition and improve capacity retention leading to longer battery cycle life.

Fumed silica is an ultra-fine, high-purity particle used as a reinforcing, thickening, abrasive, thixotropic, suspending or anti-caking agent in a wide variety of products for the automotive, construction, microelectronics, batteries and consumer products industries. These products include adhesives, sealants, cosmetics, batteries, inks, toners, silicone elastomers, coatings, polishing slurries and pharmaceuticals. In addition to its battery applications discussed above, fumed alumina, also an ultra-fine, high-purity particle, is used as an abrasive, absorbent or barrier agent in a variety of products, such as inkjet media, lighting, coatings, cosmetics and polishing slurries.

Aerogel is a hydrophobic, silica-based particle with a high surface area that is used in a variety of thermal insulation and specialty chemical applications. In the building and construction industry, the product is used in insulative sprayable plasters and composite building products, as well as translucent skylight, window, wall and roof systems for insulating eco-daylighting applications. In the specialty chemicals industry, the product is used to provide matte finishing, insulating and thickening properties for use in a variety of applications including thermal runaway management for lithium-ion batteries.

Our inkjet colorants are high-quality pigment-based black and color dispersions and inks. Our dispersions are based on our patented pigment surface modification technology and polymer encapsulation technology. The dispersions are used in aqueous inkjet inks to impart color, sharp print characteristics and durability, while maintaining high printhead reliability. These products are used in various inkjet printing applications, including traditional work-from-home and corporate office settings, and, increasingly, in commercial and corrugated packaging, all of which require a high level of dispersibility and colloidal stability. Our inkjet inks, which utilize our pigment-based colorant dispersions, are used in the commercial printing segment for graphic arts.

Drivers of Demand and Sales and Customers

Our specialty carbons products have a wide variety of end-uses and demand is largely driven by the growth and development of the construction and infrastructure, automotive, electronics and consumer products industries. Demand for our conductive additives for use in batteries is largely driven by the trend in electrification of vehicles. Demand for fumed silica is mainly influenced by trends in key markets for silicones, adhesives and coatings applications, notably, structural adhesives for automobile light-weighting, epoxy bonding paste for wind turbines, high-performance coatings and hybrid sealants for construction and silicones for medical devices and the proliferation of electronics. Demand for specialty compounds is mainly influenced by growth and development of the automotive, infrastructure, consumer goods and electronic devices, packaging and agriculture industries.

Demand for our inkjet colorants is mainly influenced by developments in print media, pages printed in office and work-from-home environments, as well as press sales and utilization levels as digital aqueous pigment-based inks penetrate commercial and packaging applications historically served by analog printing methods.

Sales of these products are made by Cabot employees and through distributors and sales representatives. In our specialty carbons and specialty compounds product lines, sales are generally to a broad number of customers. In our fumed metal oxides product line, sales under contracts with five customers account for approximately one-third of the revenue. In our battery materials product line, sales to three customers account for approximately 50% of revenue.

Competition

We are a leading producer of the products we sell in this segment. We compete in the sale of carbon black with three companies that operate globally and numerous other companies that operate regionally, a number of which export product outside their region of manufacture. For battery applications, we compete primarily with two global companies that manufacture conductive carbons as well as a number of regional manufacturers. For carbon nanotubes, we compete primarily with one Chinese-based company as well as a number of regional manufacturers. We compete primarily with one manufacturer of fumed alumina that operates globally. For fumed silica, we compete with two companies with a global presence and several other companies that have a regional presence. For aerogel, we compete globally principally with one other company that produces aerogel products. We also compete with non-aerogel insulation products manufactured by regional companies throughout the world. For specialty compounds, we compete with many regional companies and a small number of global companies. Our inkjet colorants and inks are designed to replace traditional pigment dispersions and dyes used in inkjet printing applications. Competitive products for inkjet colorants are organic dyes and other dispersed pigments manufactured and marketed by large chemical companies and small independent producers.

Competition for our Performance Chemicals products is based on product performance, quality, reliability, service, technical innovation and price. We believe our product differentiation, technological leadership, operations excellence and customer service provide us with a competitive advantage.

Raw Materials

Raw materials for our products are, in general, readily available and in adequate supply. The principal raw material used in the manufacture of our specialty carbons and conductive additives is composed of residual heavy oils derived from petroleum refining operations, the distillation of coal tars, and the production of ethylene throughout the world. Natural gas is also used in the production of our specialty carbons. As product purity is one of the most critical requirements for conductive carbons, we obtain raw materials for those products from select key suppliers. Our raw material costs generally are influenced by the availability of various types of our feedstocks and natural gas, supply and demand of such raw materials and related transportation costs. Our manufacturing processes also require water and electricity.

The primary raw materials for our carbon nanotubes are catalysts that we synthesize and propylene. Raw materials for the production of fumed silica are various chlorosilane feedstocks. We purchase feedstocks and for certain customers convert their feedstock to product on a fee-basis (so called “toll conversion”). We also purchase aluminum chloride as feedstock for the production of fumed alumina. We have long-term procurement contracts or arrangements in place for the purchase of fumed silica feedstock primarily from fence-line partners, which we believe will enable us to meet our raw material requirements for the foreseeable future. In addition, we buy some raw materials in the spot market to help ensure flexibility and minimize costs. The principal raw materials for the production of aerogel are silica sol and/or sodium silicate.

The primary raw materials used for our specialty compounds include carbon black, primarily sourced from our carbon black plants, prime and recycled thermoplastic resins and mineral fillers supplied from various sources. Raw materials for inkjet colorants include carbon black sourced from our carbon black plants, organic pigments and other treating agents available from various sources. Raw materials for inkjet inks include pigment dispersions, solvents and other additives.

Operations

We own, or have a controlling interest in, and operate plants that produce specialty carbons primarily in China, the Netherlands and the U.S. We produce our conductive additives in China, and at our specialty carbon plants in the U.S. and in the Netherlands. We also own, or have a controlling interest in, manufacturing plants that produce fumed metal oxides in China, Germany, the United Kingdom (“U.K.”), and the U.S. and a manufacturing plant that produces aerogel in Frankfurt, Germany, which is currently idled. An equity affiliate operates a fumed metal oxides plant in India. Our specialty compounds are predominately produced in facilities that we own, or have a controlling interest in, located in Belgium, Canada, China and the United Arab Emirates. Our inkjet colorants and inks are manufactured at our facility in the U.S.

The following table shows our ownership interest as of September 30, 2024 in operations in which we own less than 100%:

Currently, four of our reinforcing carbons/specialty carbons manufacturing sites have energy centers. These are described above in the discussion of our Reinforcement Materials segment.

Over the last several years, we have been investing for growth with a number of capacity expansion projects and other transactions, particularly to increase manufacturing capacity for our specialty carbons and battery materials products. These investments include our purchase in 2022 from Tokai Carbon Group of its carbon black manufacturing facility in Tianjin, China where we expect to make technical upgrades in the future to convert certain manufacturing units to allow us to produce conductive additives. We intend to pace our investments in additional battery materials manufacturing capacity to meet demand.

Global Operations

Both of our segments operate globally, and a significant portion of our revenues and operating profits is derived from operations outside the U.S. In particular, manufacturers in China continue to be important producers of tires and products for automotive applications, including more recently of batteries for electric vehicles, and since we made our initial investment in China in 1988, we have increased our operations in China to support increased demand for our products in China. We employ local management teams for our operations in China, and our business model in China is predominantly to make and sell product in-country to established local and multi-national customers with operations in China. In fiscal 2024, sales in China across our segments constituted approximately 25% of our revenues, and our property, plant and equipment located in China constituted approximately 25% of our total property, plant and equipment as of September 30, 2024, as disclosed in Note V to our Consolidated Financial Statements. There are legal, operational and other risks associated with having substantial operations in China, which are more fully described under the heading “Risk Factors” in Item 1A. If our ability to operate in China were to be constrained by legal, regulatory and operational risks, it could have a material negative impact on our overall operations and the value of our securities.

Patents and Trademarks

We own and are a licensee of various patents, which expire at different times, covering many of our products as well as processes and product uses. Although the products made and sold under these patents and licenses are important to Cabot, the loss of any particular patent or license would not materially affect our business, taken as a whole. We sell our products under a variety of trademarks we own and take reasonable measures to protect them. While our trademarks are important to Cabot, the loss of any one of our trademarks would not materially affect our business, taken as a whole.

Research and Development

Our products are highly versatile and meet specific performance requirements across many industries, creating opportunities for innovation. In fiscal 2024, we spent approximately $63 million on technology development. Our R&D activities included those focused in the areas of conductive additives, inkjet dispersions and engineered elastomer composites. We are also focused on process innovation across our product lines. We are investing in furthering our sustainability efforts across various areas in order to reduce waste, reduce emissions and utilize more sustainable material in our production processes.

Seasonality

Our businesses are generally not seasonal in nature, although we may experience some regional seasonal declines during holiday periods.

Human Capital Resources

Our success is realized through the engagement and commitment of our people. We believe that our globally distributed workforce positions us well to serve our broad customer base in the regions and geographies in which they operate. As of September 30, 2024, we had approximately 4,200 employees across our global network of office and manufacturing locations, with 41% of our employees located in the Americas (61% of whom are in the United States), 32% in Asia Pacific (75% of whom are in China), and 27% in Europe, Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”). Of this global employee population, 42% are employed in manufacturing roles.

Our Management Executive Committee (“Executive Committee”) is comprised of our CEO and his nine direct reports who, collectively, have management responsibility for our businesses and regional operations, our financial, legal, safety, health, environment and sustainability, human resources, research and development, global business services and digital functions.

Our primary human capital objectives are to attract, retain and develop the highest quality talent and ensure they feel safe, supported and empowered to do their best work. Accordingly, our management team places significant focus and attention on matters concerning Cabot’s workforce – particularly in the areas of employee health and safety, talent, engagement, diversity, retention and development, and total rewards. Our Board of Directors provides oversight of our human capital management efforts, with a focus on employee engagement and development, executive succession and compensation, diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), and employee health and safety. These areas of focus are also represented in our 2025 Sustainability Goals, which include:

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fostering an environment where employees report high levels of inclusion and support for their professional development;

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increasing diverse representation in leadership and professional roles; and

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reducing injuries and frequency of significant process safety events by 50%.

Our Core Values & Culture

Our deeply held values of integrity, respect, excellence and responsibility are the foundation of our company and the way we operate. They are the standards by which we interact with our customers, stakeholders and each other, fostering a positive working environment that inspires collaboration and innovation, and supports our focus on delivering shareholder value.

Our culture embodies our values in the way we work to provide a safe environment where every team member can contribute and have an impact. Our culture is based on five pillars:

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Drive to Zero: We are committed to the health and safety of our people, the communities in which we work, and the environment. Our drive to zero pillar is our goal of achieving zero injuries at all of our facilities worldwide.

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One Cabot: We make decisions and act in Cabot's best interest in a collaborative manner.

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Renewal mindset: We challenge ourselves to think differently, learn, adapt and continuously improve our way of working

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Accountable: We take personal ownership and accountability for our actions, performance and results.

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Inclusive: We strive to provide a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment where everyone feels accepted and valued with the opportunity to grow.

In fiscal 2024, we rolled out a new values and culture workshop globally to foster shared understanding and reinforce how our values and culture positively impact our daily work behaviors and performance. Our senior leaders and HR teams co-facilitated these interactive sessions with our employees in over 20 sites across all regions.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I)

In support of our commitment to foster a diverse and inclusive environment, in fiscal 2024 we continued to use DE&I objectives as factors that were considered in establishing the funding levels of our short-term incentive awards. These objectives were:

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Demonstrate improvement in the percentage of job searches in which candidates from underrepresented groups (for this purpose, defined as women in all regions and in the U.S. defined as women and people of color) are interviewed. Overall, our levels of diversity remained flat this year as compared to fiscal 2023. However, we saw progress in candidate diversity in the U.S. (12% improvement) and China (8% improvement), two of our larger job markets.

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Ensure strong pay equity is maintained by putting action plans in place to address any pay inequities identified through our global compensation review process. As noted below, we believe that we maintained strong pay parity during the fiscal year.

With a continued focus on fostering an inclusive environment, as follow up to last fiscal year's inclusive leadership training, we developed and deployed an inclusion self-assessment inventory for leaders to examine and strengthen their own local practices. Over 100 leaders completed the assessment and reviewed their results, working with their leadership teams to identify opportunities and actions to further promote inclusivity in the workplace.

Demographic information with respect to gender representation among all Cabot employees and with respect to racial and ethnic representation among Cabot employees located in the United States, as of September 30, 2024, is set forth in the tables below:

Gender Diversity

Racial and Ethnic Diversity

• Management includes both people managers, excluding members of the Executive Committee, and senior-level individual contributor roles.

** People of Color consists of U.S. based employees who identify as a race or ethnicity other than white.

Talent Attraction, Development and Retention

We have numerous initiatives and programs to attract, develop and retain our talent tailored to specific employee populations and geographies, including leadership and executive development programs, technical training, and other skill-based training. In fiscal 2024, we deployed a new manufacturing leadership development program in our Asia Pacific region, focused on building the capabilities and readiness of our future plant leaders. This initiative included assessments and 360-degree feedback to help build awareness and inform individual development plans, coaching and support from senior leaders, self-study through a learning platform, peer learning and group discussions to help educate and prepare them for these future roles. We also further expanded internal promotion and use of our online learning platform and made it available to all employees globally to support our leadership development programs, DE&I knowledge and skill building, and self-directed learning through our career development portal for employees. We continue to see strong adoption and use of this platform with metrics exceeding peer benchmarks as shared by our platform provider.

Employee Engagement

We believe that our continued focus on and investment in employee engagement and development continues to be well received by our employees and in fiscal 2024, we introduced the use of employee engagement "pulse" surveys to monitor results throughout the year based on the insights and actions put in place based on last year's biennial global survey.

We have well-established performance management and talent development processes in which managers provide regular feedback and coaching to develop employees. Throughout the year, managers and employees engage in annual objective setting, quarterly reviews of goal progress, performance feedback, career development discussions, and a year-end performance evaluation. In addition, we regularly review talent development and succession plans for each of our functions and business segments to identify and develop a pipeline of talent.

Some of our employees in the U.S. and abroad are covered by collective bargaining or similar agreements. We have generally positive and productive employee relations with our employees, unions and works councils globally.

Cabot’s global voluntary turnover rate for fiscal 2024 was approximately 6.0%, which represents a decrease in the Company’s attrition rate relative to fiscal 2023, which was 7.3%.

Total Rewards

We strive to provide a total rewards program that enables us to attract, retain and motivate the best talent to support our businesses. Our compensation programs embrace a pay for performance philosophy and are designed to be competitive within the markets in which we compete for talent. Our pay practices reward individual and Company performance and are equitably differentiated based on role, experience, contributions, and performance. We value our employees' efforts and reward those contributions through our recognition and incentive programs. We regularly assess these practices to ensure we are market competitive in each of our geographic locations, offering what we believe is a compelling and attractive place to work.

Cabot is committed to ensuring that employees are paid fairly and without discrimination while taking into account job-related factors such as responsibilities, location, work experience, education, performance, and contributions. We conduct reviews annually to monitor our pay practices and develop pay actions where appropriate. Our overall findings for this fiscal year continue to indicate that we have strong pay parity between females and males globally as well as with under-represented groups in the United States across all pay components (annual base salary, short-term incentives, and long-term incentives) for those in the same job and location.

We also aim to provide highly competitive benefits programs in all the locations where we operate, including meeting or exceeding local regulations and focusing on health and welfare, employee well-being, employee assistance program (EAP), and retirement savings. Examples of benefit programs we offer in the U.S. include a robust 401(k) plan that exceeds market standards in levels of employer matching, expansive health benefits (including medical, dental and/or vision), life and accident insurance, disability coverage, paid time off, tuition reimbursement and other voluntary benefits. We believe that our employees' health and well-being is important to Cabot’s success, and as a result, in fiscal 2024 we:

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Introduced a healthcare initiative in the U.S., offering enhanced mental health and work-life support programs, including several therapy sessions per year that are covered by Cabot at no cost to our employees

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Developed a comprehensive roadmap for our Asia Pacific employees, advancing local well-being initiatives

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Offered a global movement challenge to encourage physical activity; and

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Held well-being learning sessions in various countries designed to educate our employees on the importance of this topic and increase awareness of Cabot's available programs.

Employee Health & Safety

We believe that one of our primary responsibilities as an employer is to provide a safe work environment and promote wellness across the workforce. Our goal is for all employees, contractors, and visitors to return home in the same condition as when they arrived at work that day. As part of our “Drive to Zero” initiative, we have set a long-term goal of achieving zero injuries at our facilities worldwide. We intend to achieve this ambitious objective by following a number of measures, including training employees in hazard recognition, ensuring procedures are established to mitigate risks and equipping supervisory personnel with the tools and skills required to execute our work safely. As part of this effort, members of our leadership team participate in root cause determinations and the results are shared throughout our network of operating facilities. Recognizing that it may take many years to achieve our Drive to Zero goal, we have established a continuous improvement goal for personal safety to achieve a 50% reduction in our recordable and severe injury rate from our baseline measurement in 2019 by 2025. For fiscal 2024, our Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) based upon the number of injuries per 200,000 work hours for both employees and contractors was 0.22 and our Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR) was 0.16. For comparison, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports for chemical manufacturing an average TRIR of 1.8 and LTIR of 0.6 in calendar year 2023.

We continue to be recognized as an American Chemistry Counsel Responsible Care® company and as part of our commitment to Responsible Care, we remain focused on continuously improving the health and safety of our processes and products. In accordance with this certification, we report our safety performance metrics annually and undergo external audits regularly to evaluate our program, identify gaps, and undertake corrective actions as needed.

Through our global SHE & Sustainability Commitment, which is endorsed by our Executive Committee and adopted by our Board of Directors, we hold ourselves accountable to demonstrate our company values and continuously improve the way we operate. The SHE & Sustainability Commitment defines several important objectives for our continuous improvement in safety, including:

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Complying with all applicable regulations;

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Sharing complete information about the safe handling and appropriate use of our products;

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Maintaining the safety and security of our employees, contractors and neighbors;

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Managing our operations to minimize any impacts on our communities;

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Exemplifying the Responsible Care® Guiding Principles;

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Partnering with customers and suppliers to advance innovative and sustainable solutions; and

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Improving efficiencies, reducing environmental impacts and ensuring that we are prepared for emergencies that could occur.

Safety, Health, Environment and Sustainability

In recognition of the importance of safety, health, environment and sustainability matters to Cabot, our Board of Directors has a Safety, Health, Environment, and Sustainability Committee. The Committee, which is comprised of independent directors, meets regularly and oversees our safety, health, and environmental performance, process safety, security, product stewardship, community engagement and governmental affairs. In particular, the Committee reviews metrics, audit results, emerging trends, overall performance, risks and opportunity assessments and management processes related to our safety, health, environmental and sustainability program.

Our ongoing operations are subject to extensive federal, state, local, and foreign laws, regulations, rules, and ordinances relating to safety, health, and environmental matters (“SH&E Requirements”). The SH&E Requirements to which our operations are subject include requirements to obtain and comply with various environmental-related permits for constructing any new facilities and operating all of our existing facilities and for product registrations. We have expended and will continue to expend considerable resources to construct, maintain, operate, and improve our facilities throughout the world for safety, health and environmental protection and to comply with SH&E Requirements. We spent $58 million in environmental-related capital expenditures in fiscal 2024. We anticipate spending approximately $78 million for such matters in fiscal 2025. These costs include costs associated with our compliance with the Consent Decree we entered into in November 2013 with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ”) regarding Cabot’s three carbon black manufacturing facilities in the U.S., and a significant portion of our anticipated capital expenditures for fiscal 2025 will continue to be for the installation of air pollution control equipment at our third and final plant in Ville Platte, Louisiana. This settlement is related to the EPA’s national enforcement initiative focused on the U.S. carbon black manufacturing sector alleging non-compliance with certain regulatory and permitting requirements under The Clean Air Act, including the New Source Review (“NSR”) construction permitting requirements.

Pursuant to this settlement, Cabot has installed technology controls for sulfur dioxide and/or nitrogen oxide at its carbon black plants in Pampa, Texas and Franklin, Louisiana, and is in the process of installing such technology controls at its plant in Ville Platte. We are currently in discussions with the EPA and LDEQ to extend our compliance date at the Ville Platte facility to 2025 based upon force majeure events primarily related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect that the total capital costs to install these technology controls will be approximately $250 million and will be incurred through mid-calendar year 2025. As of September 30, 2024, we have incurred $201 million to install these controls in the U.S. Operating these controls increases our plant operating costs. All carbon black manufacturers in the U.S. have settled with the EPA and have installed similar controls. In addition, under the Province of Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks’ (“MECP”) Regulation 419, a new requirement for sulfur dioxide (“SO2”) emissions went into effect on July 1, 2023 for our reinforcing carbons plant in Sarnia, Ontario. We are out of compliance with this new air standard and are in discussions with the MECP on an abatement plan regarding this requirement that we expect, in its current form, would require the installation of air pollution controls at the plant by July 1, 2028. To date, this has not restricted our ability to operate our reinforcing carbons plant in Sarnia as we are working with MECP on a solution. We anticipate that we will need to incur significant capital costs for the installation of these new SO2 emissions controls, particularly during the 24-month period prior to the date of installation. In addition, in the EU, the large volume inorganic chemicals BREF is currently under revision, and we expect that requirements to install technology controls for sulfur dioxide and/or nitrogen oxide at the Company’s four carbon black facilities in the EU may be initiated starting as early as 2028.

As described above, environmental agencies worldwide are increasingly implementing regulations and other requirements resulting in more restrictive air emission limits globally, particularly as they relate to nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter emissions. In addition, growing concerns about climate change have led to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions with a goal of achieving net zero GHG emissions in the future, which will impact the carbon black industry and our business as carbon dioxide is emitted from those manufacturing processes. Currently, in Europe, our four carbon black facilities are subject to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (“EU ETS”). The fourth phase of the EU ETS began in January 2021, with updated product benchmarks for our carbon black facilities. As a result of revisions to the EU ETS program following the ETS Directive reform adopted in May 2023 that increased the ambition of the EU ETS, the free allowances under the program will be phased out over time likely resulting in increased costs to the Company due to an increased need to purchase emission credits. Further, in order for our carbon black plant in Botlek, the Netherlands, to retain the maximum amount of free allowances allocated to this plant beginning in calendar year 2025, in June 2024 we submitted to the Dutch Emission Authorities our plan for achieving carbon neutrality at that plant by 2050. Our plan assumes a potential investment in carbon capture, utilization and storage technology at the plant that would be installed and operational for these operations by 2050. We will continue to monitor revisions and updates to the EU ETS program and related reporting, including updates to the carbon black product benchmarks that will apply at the beginning of calendar year 2026, and other measures that may reduce the maximum amount of free allowances allocated to our carbon black plants and increase our compliance costs. In addition, we are evaluating the future potential applicability of the new carbon border adjustment mechanism (“CBAM”) program in the EU as an alternative to free allowances under the EU ETS and as a system complementary to the EU ETS. Our carbon black facility in The Netherlands is also subject to The Netherlands CO2 tax, which is a top-up tax to the EU ETS scheme. In China, a national emissions trading program is currently in place for the power sector and is expected to be expanded to apply to the cement, steel, and electrolytic aluminum sectors. We continue to monitor that program’s further implementation and expect it may apply to the carbon black industry in the future with the existing regional pilot programs expected to continue to operate until the national program becomes effective. Our carbon black facility in Ontario, Canada is subject to the Ontario Emissions Performance Standard trading system, a transition from the federal carbon tax program and under which specific transition requirements became effective on January 1, 2022. In Mexico, our carbon black facility is participating in the national ETS program, a transition from the pilot program that was in effect for our plant in 2023. In other regions where we operate, some of our facilities are required to report their greenhouse gas emissions but are not currently subject to programs requiring trading or emission controls but may be subject to limited carbon tax programs affecting fuels we purchase. We generally expect to pay any incurred taxes or purchase emission credits as needed to respond to any allocation shortfalls and pass these costs on to our customers. In addition, further air emission regulations may be adopted in the future in regions and countries where we operate, which could have an impact on our operations. Increasing regulatory programs associated with emissions and concerns regarding climate change are expected to increase our capital and operational costs in the future.

Cabot has been named as a potentially responsible party under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (the “Superfund law”) and comparable state statutes with respect to several sites primarily associated with our divested businesses. (See “Legal Proceedings” in Item 3 below, and Note T in Item 8 below, under the heading “Contingencies”.) During the next several years, as remediation of various environmental sites is carried out, we expect to spend against our environmental reserve for costs associated with such remediation. As of September 30, 2024, our environmental reserve was approximately $5 million. Adjustments are made to the reserve based on our continuing analysis of our share of costs likely to be incurred at each site. Inherent uncertainties exist in these estimates due to unknown conditions at the various sites, changing governmental regulations and legal standards regarding liability, and changing technologies for handling site investigation and remediation. While the reserve represents our best estimate of the costs we expect to incur, the actual costs to investigate and remediate these sites may exceed the amounts accrued in the environmental reserve. While it is always possible that an unusual event may occur with respect to a given site and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in a particular period, we do not believe that the costs relating to these sites, in the aggregate, are likely to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position. Furthermore, it is possible that we may also incur future costs relating to environmental liabilities not currently known to us or as to which it is currently not possible to make an estimate.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (“IARC”) classifies carbon black as a Group 2B substance (known animal carcinogen, possible human carcinogen). We have communicated IARC’s classification of carbon black to our customers and employees and have included that information in our safety data sheets and elsewhere, as appropriate. We continue to believe that the available evidence, taken as a whole, indicates that carbon black is not carcinogenic to humans, and does not present a health hazard when handled in accordance with good housekeeping and safe workplace practices as described in our safety data sheets.

Our products are subject to the chemical control laws and regulatory requirements of the countries in which they are manufactured or imported and distributed commercially. These laws include the regulation of chemical substances and inventories under the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”) in the U.S. and the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (“REACh”) in the European Union. Manufacturers or importers of these chemical substances are required to submit specified health, safety, environment, risk and use information about these substances. Under the “Evaluation” portion of the REACh framework, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and European Union Member States assess the information submitted by companies within registration dossiers and testing proposals to determine whether the associated substances are safe for use. The silica substance evaluation was concluded in 2021, and following this, the Netherlands has proposed a STOT RE 1 classification for untreated silica which has not yet been finalized. Carbon black is scheduled for a substance review in 2026. Analogous regimes exist in other parts of the world, including the UK, Turkey, China, South Korea, and Taiwan. Many of these chemical control regulations are in the process of a multi-year implementation period for product/substance registrations or notifications.

Additional requirements for nanomaterials apply to many of our existing products including carbon black, fumed silica, inkjet pigments, fumed alumina, and advanced carbons such as carbon nano structures and carbon nanotubes. Country-specific nanomaterial reporting programs have been implemented in some countries and are being developed by others. In the European Union, application-specific safety evaluations are ongoing for nanomaterials. Additionally, in 2022, an opinion was adopted to classify a subset of multi-walled carbon nanotubes that includes a carbon nanotube grade we currently manufacture, as carcinogen category 1B and specific target organ toxicant (lung) after repeated exposure category 1 under European Union regulations. The opinion has not yet been published in the Adaptation to Technical Progress (ATP), which would make the classification legally binding. Our carbon nanotubes are bound in a matrix or contained within conductive materials in batteries, molded parts, plastics, coatings, adhesives, and sealants, and we do not believe they present a health risk to end users under normal use conditions. Exposure to carbon nanotubes could occur in the workplace. However, we believe workplace exposures can be appropriately managed with engineering controls in place at our manufacturing facilities and the use of required personal protective equipment at our sites.

A number of organizations and regulatory agencies have become increasingly focused on the issue of water scarcity, water conservation and water quality, particularly in certain geographic regions. We are engaged in various activities to promote water conservation and wastewater recycling, particularly given that some of our manufacturing processes are water intensive. The costs associated with these activities are not expected to have a material adverse effect on our operations.

Various U.S. agencies and international bodies have adopted security requirements applicable to certain manufacturing and industrial facilities and marine port locations. These security-related requirements involve the preparation of security assessments and security plans in some cases, and in other cases the registration of certain facilities with specified governmental authorities. We closely monitor all security-related regulatory developments and believe we are in compliance with all existing requirements. Compliance with such requirements is not expected to have a material adverse effect on our operations.