Erica McLaughlin will take over as president and CEO of speciality chemicals company the Cabot Corporation on October 1.

McLaughlin will succeed Sean Keohane under a planned leadership transition agreed earlier this year.

Keohane is retiring after nearly 25 years with the company and more than a decade as president and CEO. He will support Cabot in an advisory capacity until the end of this year.

McLaughlin, who will also be a member of Cabot’s board, has been with the firm for nearly 25 years. She has spent the past eight-plus years as EVP, CFO and head of strategy.

Keohane praised his successor during third-quarter results presented last month as an exceptional leader with deep knowledge of Cabot’s businesses, customers, and strategy.

He also said Cabot had seen continued momentum in battery materials during fiscal year 2026 and expected a full-year EBITDA result of around $40 million.

Cabot’s battery materials products include conductive additives and fumed alumina, which are used principally in lithium ion batteries used in EVs and energy storage systems, as well as lead acid batteries.

The firm had pushed ahead with a programme to expand global conductive additive capacity in its battery materials product line, with investments in the US and China, Keohane said.

“These investments are intended to support expected growth in global battery demand and enable continued expansion of our participation with leading battery manufacturers.”

Batteries International reported in January 2026 Cabot had signed a multi-year materials supply deal with Volkswagen’s PowerCo battery manufacturing subsidiary.

The agreement included supply of conductive carbons and dispersions for lithium ion battery applications for the EV battery sector.