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                                                                      EXHIBIT 10


                                CABOT CORPORATION

                     SHORT-TERM INCENTIVE COMPENSATION PLAN

     The purpose of this Short-Term Incentive Compensation Plan (the "Plan") is
to provide incentives for certain senior executives of Cabot Corporation (the
"Company") to achieve a sustained, high level of financial success for the
Company. The Plan is intended to comply with the requirements for tax
deductibility imposed by Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m) as in effect from
time to time ("Section 162(m)") with respect to Awards paid pursuant to the
Plan.

I. ADMINISTRATION

     The Plan will be administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board of
Directors or, if any member of the Compensation Committee is not an "outside
director" for the purposes of Section 162(m), by a subcommittee of the
Compensation Committee consisting of those members of the Compensation Committee
who are "outside directors" for such purposes. The Compensation Committee or
subcommittee administering the Plan is referred to herein as the "Committee."
The Committee may delegate to other persons administrative functions that do not
involve discretion. The Committee shall have the authority to interpret this
Plan, and any interpretation or decision by the Committee with regard to any
questions arising under the Plan shall be final and conclusive on all
participants in the Plan.

II. ELIGIBILITY; PARTICIPANTS

     Only officers of the Company shall be eligible to participate in the Plan.
The Committee shall select, from among those eligible, the persons who shall
from time to time participate in the Plan. Participation by an individual with
respect to one award under the Plan shall not entitle the individual to
participate with respect to subsequent awards, if any.

III. GRANT OF AWARDS

     The term "Award" as used in the Plan means an award opportunity that is
granted to a Participant within a specified period after the beginning of the
performance period (the "Performance Period") to which the Award relates. A
Participant who is granted an Award shall be entitled to a payment, if any,
under the Award only if all conditions to payment have been satisfied in
accordance with the Plan and the terms of the Award. Except as otherwise
specified by the Committee in connection with the grant of an Award, the
Performance Period applicable to Awards under the Plan shall be the fiscal year
of the Company. Not later than (i) the ninetieth (90th) day after the beginning
of the Performance Period, in the case of a Performance Period of 360 days or
longer, or (ii) the end of the period constituting the first quarter of the
Performance Period, in the case of a Performance Period of less than 360 days,
the Committee shall select the Participants, if any, who are to receive Awards
for such Performance Period and, in the case of each Award, shall establish the


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following:

     (a) the Performance Goals (as defined in Section IV below) applicable to
the Award;

     (b) the amount or amounts that will be payable (subject to reduction in
accordance with Section V) if the Performance Goals are achieved; and

     (c) such other terms and conditions as the Committee deems appropriate with
respect to the Award.

     Once the Committee has established the terms of an Award in accordance with
the foregoing, it shall not thereafter adjust such terms except to reduce
payments, if any, under the Award in accordance with Section V. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, if achievement under a Performance Goal would be affected by an
Identified Item (as hereinafter defined), such Identified Item shall be
disregarded if disregarding it would make the Performance Goal easier to achieve
and shall be taken into account if taking it into account would make the
Performance Goal easier to achieve. For purposes of the Plan, the term
"Identified Item" means any of the following to the extent it is objectively
determinable (for example, but without limitation, if the item appears as or can
be objectively derived from a separate line item in the financial statements of
the Company): an extraordinary or non-recurring item, a change in tax laws, an
item relating to discontinued operations, an item relating to a divested
business or a sale of one or more businesses, a restructuring charge, an
accounting change or any other special, unusual or non-recurring gain or loss.
Nothing in the rules set forth above for the treatment of Identified Items shall
be construed as restricting the ability of the Committee to reduce Award
payments under Section V.

IV. PERFORMANCE GOALS

     As used in the Plan, the term "Performance Goal" means an objectively
determinable goal or target based on any one or any combination of the following
(determined, in the case of Company-related measures, on a consolidated basis or
on the basis of one or more subsidiaries, divisions or other geographic or
business units): (i) sales; revenues; assets; expenses; earnings before or after
deduction for all or any portion of interest, taxes, depreciation or
amortization, whether or not on a continuing operations or an aggregate or per
share basis; return on equity, investment, capital or assets; inventory level or
turns; one or more operating ratios; borrowing levels, leverage ratios or credit
rating; market share; capital expenditures; cash flow; stock price; or
stockholder return; or (ii) acquisitions and divestitures (in whole or in part);
joint ventures and strategic alliances; spin-offs, split-ups and the like;
reorganizations; recapitalizations; restructurings; financings (issuance of debt
or equity); or refinancings. A Performance Goal need not be based on an increase
or improvement under the applicable measure. An Award may specify more than one
Performance Goal and, with respect to any Performance Goal, may specify levels
of achievement at which different levels of payment may be earned.


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V. CERTIFICATION OF PERFORMANCE; PAYMENT UNDER AWARDS

     As soon as practicable after the close of a Performance Period, the
Committee shall take such steps as are sufficient to satisfy the certification
requirement of the regulations under Section 162(m) as to whether and to what
extent, if at all, the Performance Goal or Goals applicable to each Award
granted for the Performance Period have been satisfied. The Committee shall then
determine the actual payment, if any, under each Award. No amount may be paid
under an Award unless the Performance Goal or Goals applicable to the payment of
such amount have been certified as having been satisfied as set forth above.
However, the Committee may, in its sole and absolute discretion and with or
without specifying its reasons for doing so, after determining the amount that
would otherwise be payable under an Award for a Performance Period, reduce
(including to zero) the actual payment, if any, to be made under such Award. The
Committee may exercise the discretion described in the immediately preceding
sentence either in individual cases or in ways that affect more than one
Participant (for example, but without limitation, by disregarding in whole or in
part an Identified Item that has been taken into account under Section III above
or by taking into account, in whole or in part, an Identified Item that has been
disregarded under Section III above).

VI. PAYMENT LIMITS

     No Participant may be paid more than $3,000,000 in any fiscal year of the
Company under Awards granted under the Plan. In the case of an Award where
payment is deferred pursuant to Section IX(b) below, the preceding sentence
shall be applied by assuming that payment of the Award was made at the time it
would have been paid absent the deferral.

VII. TAX WITHHOLDING

     All payments under the Plan shall be subject to reduction for applicable
tax and other legally or contractually required withholdings.

VIII. AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION

     The Committee may amend the Plan at any time and from time to time;
provided, that no amendment for which Section 162(m) would require shareholder
approval in order to preserve exemption for Award payments as performance-based
compensation shall be effective unless approved by the shareholders of the
Company in a manner consistent with the requirements of Section 162(m). The
Committee may at any time terminate the Plan.

IX. MISCELLANEOUS

     (a) Except as otherwise determined by the Committee at the time it grants
an Award, no payment shall be made under an Award unless the Participant is
employed by the Company on the last day of the Performance Period applicable to
the Award. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a Participant ceases to be employed
by the Company during a Performance Period by reason of death or disability, the
Committee may in its discretion authorize payment of any Awards held by such


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Participant to the Participant (or his or her estate) at the time other Awards
are paid in respect of the Performance Period.

     (b) The Committee may, but need not, permit a Participant to defer payment
of an Award beyond the date that the Award would otherwise be payable. Any
amount deferred under the preceding sentence shall be adjusted for notional
interest or other notional earnings on a basis, determined by the Committee,
that preserves the eligibility of the Award payment as exempt performance-based
compensation under Section 162(m).

     (c) No person shall have any claim or right to be granted an Award, nor
shall the selection for participation in the Plan for any Participation Period
be construed as giving a Participant the right to be retained in the employ of
the Company for that Participation Period or for any other period.

     (d) The Plan and all Awards under the Plan shall be construed and
administered in a manner consistent with the exemption of Award payments as
exempt performance based compensation under Section 162(m). Subject to the
foregoing, the Committee shall have complete discretion to construe the Plan and
all matters arising under the Plan, and its determinations shall be binding on
all parties.

     (e) The Plan shall be effective as of the date adopted, for the Performance
Period ending September 30, 2001, subject to receiving stockholder approval at
the 2001 Annual Stockholders Meeting and shall remain in effect for subsequent
Performance Periods until terminated by the Company's Board of Directors.