Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2014

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, 2013 (“2013 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, 2014 and 2013. 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.

In November 2013, the Company purchased all of Grupo Kuo S.A.B. de C.V.’s (“KUO”) common stock in NHUMO, S.A. de C.V. (“NHUMO”), a carbon black joint venture between the Company and KUO in Mexico, which represented approximately 60% of the outstanding common stock of NHUMO (the “NHUMO transaction”). Prior to this transaction, the Company owned approximately 40% of the outstanding common stock of NHUMO, and the NHUMO entity was accounted for as an equity affiliate of the Company. The financial position, results of operations and cash flows of NHUMO are included in the Company’s consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition.

In March 2014, the Company entered into an agreement to sell its Security Materials business to SICPA SA (“SICPA”). The business is being accounted for as discontinued operations and the applicable assets of the business have been classified as held for sale in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of June 30, 2014 and September 30, 2013. The Consolidated Statements of Operations for all periods presented have been recast to reflect the Security Materials business in discontinued operations. Unless otherwise indicated, all disclosures and amounts in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements relate to the Company’s continuing operations. The sale closed on July 31, 2014 and the Company expects to record a gain in discontinued operations as a result of this transaction. The Company’s Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows include the cash flows from both continuing and discontinued operations.

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