Rubber, specialty-grade carbon black (a reinforcing and pigmenting agent), inkjet colorants and metal oxides are among the primary products of Boston-based Cabot Corp. Making and handling very fine particles, modifying them and designing them for specific purposes are at the core of the company. Cabot Corp. arose in 1882, when entrepreneur chemist Godfrey Lowell Cabot applied for a patent for a “carbon black making apparatus.” It has since expanded to 19 countries, operating 39 manufacturing facilities, eight research and development centers and 28 sales offices. Through a subsidiary, the Tantalum Mining Corp. of Canada Ltd., it operates a mine in Manitoba, Canada, that produces cesium, tantalite and other minerals.
The company’s average annual revenues approach $3 billion, putting it at No. 658 on this year’s Fortune 1,000. It has approximately 4,000 employees.
