Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

A. Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Cabot Corporation (“Cabot” or the “Company”) and its wholly owned subsidiaries and majority-owned and controlled U.S. and non-U.S. subsidiaries. Additionally, Cabot considers consolidation of entities over which control is achieved through means other than voting rights, of which there were none in the periods presented. Intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Form 10-Q and consequently do not include all disclosures required by Form 10-K. Additional information may be obtained by referring to Cabot’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012 (“2012 10-K”).

The financial information submitted herewith is unaudited and reflects all adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary to provide a fair statement of the results for the interim periods ended June 30, 2013 and 2012. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. The results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the fiscal year.

On January 20, 2012, the Company completed the sale of its Supermetals Business and the results of its operations for all periods presented are reflected as discontinued operations in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Unless otherwise indicated, all disclosures and amounts in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements relate to the Company’s continuing operations.

On July 31, 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of Norit N.V. (“Norit”). The financial position, results of operations and cash flows of Norit are included in the Consolidated Financial Statements from the date of acquisition.

In January 2013, Cabot initiated a commercial paper program. The majority of proceeds raised were used to repay revolving credit agreement borrowings, which had a balance of $189 million, included within Long-term debt in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2012. The outstanding balance of commercial paper of $202 million as of June 30, 2013 is included within the Notes payable caption on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Certain amounts in prior years’ Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation.