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Commitments and Contingencies | 9 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2018
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | I. Commitments and Contingencies Purchase Commitments Cabot has entered into long-term purchase agreements primarily for the purchase of raw materials. Under certain of these agreements, the quantity of material being purchased is fixed, but the price paid changes as market prices change. For these purchase commitments, the amounts included in the table below are based on market prices at June 30, 2018, which may differ from actual market prices at the time of purchase.
|  | Payments Due by Fiscal Year |
|  | Remainder of Fiscal 2018 |  |  | 2019 |  |  | 2020 |  |  | 2021 |  |  | 2022 |  |  | Thereafter |  |  | Total |
|  | (In millions) |
Reinforcement Materials |  | $ | 79 |  |  | $ | 294 |  |  | $ | 180 |  |  | $ | 140 |  |  | $ | 140 |  |  | $ | 1,901 |  |  | $ | 2,734 |
Performance Chemicals |  |  | 19 |  |  |  | 67 |  |  |  | 55 |  |  |  | 54 |  |  |  | 54 |  |  |  | 461 |  |  |  | 710 |
Purification Solutions |  |  | 3 |  |  |  | 7 |  |  |  | 6 |  |  |  | 1 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 17 |
Specialty Fluids |  |  | — |  |  |  | 15 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 15 |
Total |  | $ | 101 |  |  | $ | 383 |  |  | $ | 241 |  |  | $ | 195 |  |  | $ | 194 |  |  | $ | 2,362 |  |  | $ | 3,476 |
Guarantee Agreements Cabot has provided certain indemnities pursuant to which it may be required to make payments to an indemnified party in connection with certain transactions and agreements. In connection with certain acquisitions and divestitures, Cabot has provided routine indemnities with respect to such matters as environmental, tax, insurance, product and employee liabilities. In connection with various other agreements, including service and supply agreements with customers, Cabot has provided indemnities for certain contingencies and routine warranties. Cabot is unable to estimate the maximum potential liability for these types of indemnities as a maximum obligation is not explicitly stated in most cases and the amounts, if any, are dependent upon the outcome of future contingent events, the nature and likelihood of which cannot be reasonably estimated. The duration of the indemnities vary, and in many cases are indefinite. Cabot has not recorded any liability for these indemnities in the consolidated financial statements, except as otherwise disclosed. Contingencies Cabot is a defendant, or potentially responsible party, in various lawsuits and environmental proceedings wherein substantial amounts are claimed or at issue. Environmental Matters As of June 30, 2018 and September 30, 2017, Cabot had $15 million and $12 million, respectively, reserved for environmental matters. These environmental matters mainly relate to former operations. The Company’s reserves for environmental matters represent Cabot’s best estimates of the probable costs to be incurred at those sites where costs are reasonably estimable based on the Company’s analysis of the extent of clean up required, alternative clean-up methods available, abilities of other responsible parties to contribute and its interpretation of laws and regulations applicable to each site. Cash payments related to these environmental matters were $2 million in the first nine months of both fiscal 2018 and 2017. Cabot reviews the adequacy of the reserves as circumstances change at individual sites and adjusts the reserves as appropriate. Almost all of Cabot’s environmental issues relate to sites that are mature and have been investigated and studied and, in many cases, are subject to agreed upon remediation plans. However, depending on the results of future testing, changes in risk assessment practices, remediation techniques and regulatory requirements, newly discovered conditions, and other factors, it is reasonably possible that the Company could incur additional costs in excess of environmental reserves currently recorded. Management estimates, based on the latest available information, that any such future environmental remediation costs that are reasonably possible to be in excess of amounts already recorded would be immaterial to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Respirator Liabilities Cabot has exposure in connection with a safety respiratory products business that a subsidiary acquired from American Optical Corporation (“AO”) in an April 1990 asset purchase transaction. The subsidiary manufactured respirators under the AO brand and disposed of that business in July 1995. In connection with its acquisition of the business, the subsidiary agreed, in certain circumstances, to assume a portion of AO’s liabilities, including costs of legal fees together with amounts paid in settlements and judgments, allocable to AO respiratory products used prior to the 1990 purchase by the Cabot subsidiary. In exchange for the subsidiary’s assumption of certain of AO’s respirator liabilities, AO agreed to provide to the subsidiary the benefits of: (i) AO’s insurance coverage for the period prior to the 1990 acquisition and (ii) a former owner’s indemnity of AO holding it harmless from any liability allocable to AO respiratory products used prior to May 1982. As more fully described in the 2017 10-K, the respirator liabilities generally involve claims for personal injury, including asbestosis, silicosis and coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, allegedly resulting from the use of respirators that are alleged to have been negligently designed and/or labeled. Neither Cabot, nor its past or present subsidiaries, at any time manufactured asbestos or asbestos-containing products. At no time did this respiratory product line represent a significant portion of the respirator market. As of June 30, 2018 and September 30, 2017, there were approximately 35,000 and 37,000 claimants, respectively, in pending cases asserting claims against AO in connection with respiratory products. Cabot has a reserve to cover its expected share of liability for existing and future respirator liability claims. At June 30, 2018 and September 30, 2017, the reserve was $17 million and $18 million, respectively. The Company made payments related to its respirator liability of $1 million and $3 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2017, respectively. The Company’s current estimate of the cost of its share of existing and future respirator liability claims is based on facts and circumstances existing at this time. Developments that could affect the Company’s estimate include, but are not limited to, (i) significant changes in the number of future claims, (ii) changes in the rate of dismissals without payment of pending claims, (iii) significant changes in the average cost of resolving claims, (iv) significant changes in the legal costs of defending these claims, (v) changes in the nature of claims received, (vi) changes in the law and procedure applicable to these claims, (vii) the financial viability of other parties that contribute to the settlement of respirator claims, (viii) a change in the availability of insurance coverage maintained by certain of the other parties that contribute to the settlement of respirator claims, or the indemnity provided by a former owner of the business, (ix) changes in the allocation of costs among the various parties paying legal and settlement costs, and (x) a determination that the assumptions that were used to estimate Cabot’s share of liability are no longer reasonable. The Company cannot determine the impact of these potential developments on its current estimate of its share of liability for existing and future claims. Accordingly, the actual amount of these liabilities for existing and future claims could be different than the reserved amount. Other Matters The Company has various other lawsuits, claims and contingent liabilities arising in the ordinary course of its business and with respect to its divested businesses. The Company does not believe that any of these matters will have a material adverse effect on its financial position; however, litigation is inherently unpredictable. Cabot could incur judgments, enter into settlements or revise its expectations regarding the outcome of certain matters, and such developments could have a material impact on its results of operations in the period in which the amounts are accrued or its cash flows in the period in which the amounts are paid.

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