PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS

6 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2013

PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS

PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS

(7) The Company has several defined benefit pension plans and postretirement health care and life insurance plans covering its U.S. employees and employees in certain foreign countries.

The worldwide components of net periodic pension cost consisted of the following in millions of dollars:

	Three Months Ended April 30											Six Months Ended April 30
	2013					2012						2013					2012
Service cost	$	69				$		56				$	136				$	109
Interest cost	112					117						222					233
Expected return on plan assets	(196			)		(197				)		(390				)	(393			)
Amortization of actuarial loss	63					48						128					100
Amortization of prior service cost	8					11						16					21
Settlements/curtailments	1					1						1					2
Net cost	$	57				$		36				$	113				$	72
The worldwide components of net periodic postretirement benefits cost (health care and life insurance) consisted of the following in millions of dollars:
	Three Months Ended April 30											Six Months Ended April 30
	2013						2012					2013					2012
Service cost	$		15				$		11			$		29			$		23
Interest cost	63						69					127					140
Expected return on plan assets	(21				)		(25				)	(42			)		(50			)
Amortization of actuarial loss	34											70					60
Amortization of prior service credit	(1				)		(5				)	(2			)		(8			)
Net cost	$		90				$		50			$		182			$		165

For fiscal year 2012, the participants in one of the Company’s postretirement health care plans became “almost all” inactive as described by the applicable accounting standards due to additional retirements.  As a result, beginning in 2012, the net actuarial loss for this plan in the table above was amortized over the longer period for the average remaining life expectancy of the inactive participants rather than the average remaining service period of the active participants.

During the first six months of 2013, the Company contributed approximately $249 million to its pension plans and $17 million to its other postretirement benefit plans.  The Company presently anticipates contributing an additional $292 million to its pension plans and $11 million to its other postretirement benefit plans in the remainder of fiscal year 2013.  These contributions include payments from Company funds to either increase plan assets or make direct payments to plan participants.