RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

18. RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

Our revenues are largely dependent on the continued operation of our various manufacturing facilities. There are many risks involved in operating chemical manufacturing plants, including the breakdown, failure or substandard performance of equipment, operating errors, natural disasters, the need to comply with directives of, and maintain all necessary permits from, government agencies and potential terrorist attacks. Our operations can be adversely affected by raw material shortages, labor force shortages or work stoppages and events impeding or increasing the cost of transporting our raw materials and finished products. The occurrence of material operational problems, including but not limited to the above events, may have a material adverse effect on the productivity and profitability of a particular manufacturing facility. With respect to certain facilities, such events could have a material effect on our company as a whole.

Our operations are also subject to various hazards incident to the production of industrial chemicals. These include the use, handling, processing, storage and transportation of certain hazardous materials. Under certain circumstances, these hazards could cause personal injury and loss of life, severe damage to and destruction of property and equipment, environmental damage and suspension of operations. Claims arising from any future catastrophic occurrence at one of our locations may result in Cytec being named as a defendant in lawsuits asserting potentially large claims.

Approximately 19%, 18% and 18% of our 2012, 2011 and 2010 net sales, respectively, were to Boeing and its subcontractors, of which 18%, 17%, and 17% related to our Aerospace Materials segment, and 1%, 1%, and 1% related to our Industrial Materials segment. If we were to lose Boeing as a customer it may have an adverse effect on our consolidated results.

We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers’ financial condition including an assessment of the impact, if any, of prevailing economic conditions. We generally do not require collateral from our customers. We are exposed to credit losses in the event of nonperformance by counterparties on derivative instruments. The counterparties to these transactions are major financial institutions, which may be adversely affected by events in the global credit markets. However, we consider the risk of default to be minimal. We typically do not require collateral or other security to support potential credit risk.

International operations are subject to various risks which may or may not be present in U.S. operations. These risks include political instability, the possibility of expropriation, restrictions on royalties, dividends and remittances, instabilities of currencies, requirements for governmental approvals for new ventures and local participation in operations such as local equity ownership and workers’ councils. Currency fluctuations between the USD and the currencies in which we do business have caused and will continue to cause foreign currency transaction gains and losses, which may be material. While we do not currently believe that we are likely to suffer a material adverse effect on our results of operations in connection with our existing international operations, any of these events could have an adverse effect on our international operations in the future by reducing the demand for our products, affecting the prices at which we can sell our products or otherwise having an adverse effect on our operating performance.