INCOME TAXES (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Income before income taxes
U.S. income before income taxes	$ 188,641,000	$ 221,576,000	$ 148,447,000
Non-U.S. income before income taxes	103,582,000	105,708,000	91,863,000
Income before income taxes	292,223,000	327,284,000	240,310,000
Current tax expense:
U.S. federal	49,310,000	70,894,000	51,921,000
Foreign	31,225,000	28,689,000	26,019,000
State and local	859,000	9,925,000	4,904,000
Total current tax expense	81,394,000	109,508,000	82,844,000
Deferred tax expense:
U.S. federal	13,267,000	2,017,000	(22,000)
Foreign	5,126,000	5,734,000	4,232,000
State and local	5,113,000	341,000	746,000
Total deferred tax expense	23,506,000	8,092,000	4,956,000
Total income tax expense	104,900,000	117,600,000	87,800,000
Deferred Tax Assets:
Accounts receivable, principally due to allowances for returns and doubtful accounts	9,511,000	7,458,000
Inventories, principally due to additional costs inventoried for tax purposes	25,890,000	17,949,000
Employee compensation and benefits accrued for financial reporting purposes	141,228,000	99,487,000
Foreign net operating losses	22,524,000	18,910,000
Foreign tax credits	9,001,000	6,650,000
Other	4,583,000	3,706,000
Total deferred tax assets	212,737,000	154,160,000
Less valuation allowance	(31,590,000)	(29,682,000)
Total deferred tax assets, after valuation allowance	181,147,000	124,478,000
Deferred Tax Liabilities:
Plant and equipment, principally due to differences in depreciation, capitalized interest, and capitalized overhead	149,002,000	137,560,000
Goodwill and intangible assets, principally due to differences in amortization	129,205,000	86,313,000
Other	3,546,000	60,000
Total deferred tax liabilities	281,753,000	223,933,000
Deferred tax liabilities, net	100,606,000	99,455,000
Net deferred tax liabilities
Deferred tax assets (included in prepaid expense and other current assets)	74,979,000	58,834,000
Deferred tax liabilities	175,585,000	158,289,000
Deferred tax liabilities, net	100,606,000	99,455,000
Reconciliation of actual income tax provision and tax provision computed by applying federal statutory rate
Computed "expected" tax expense on income before taxes at federal statutory rate	102,278,000	114,549,000	84,109,000
Increase (decrease) in taxes resulting from:
State and local income taxes net of federal income tax benefit	3,881,000	6,673,000	3,672,000
Foreign tax rate differential	(626,000)	(3,383,000)	(2,181,000)
Manufacturing tax benefits	(4,200,000)	(5,775,000)	(3,710,000)
Other	3,567,000	5,536,000	5,910,000
Total income tax expense	104,900,000	117,600,000	87,800,000
Computed "expected" tax expense on income before taxes at federal statutory rate
Computed "expected" tax expense on income before taxes at federal statutory rate (as a percent)	35.00%	35.00%	35.00%
Increase (decrease) in taxes resulting from:
State and local income taxes net of federal income tax benefit (as a percent)	1.30%	2.00%	1.50%
Foreign tax rate differential (as a percent)	(0.20%)	(1.00%)	(0.90%)
Manufacturing tax benefits (as a percent)	(1.40%)	(1.80%)	(1.50%)
Other (as a percent)	1.20%	1.70%	2.40%
Actual income tax expense (as a percent)	35.90%	35.90%	36.50%
Foreign net operating loss carryovers	69,600,000
Foreign net operating loss carryovers subject to expiration	21,100,000
Foreign tax credit carryovers	9,000,000
Valuation Allowance
Valuation allowance	31,600,000	29,700,000
Undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries considered to be indefinitely reinvested	305,400,000
Unrecognized tax benefits that would impact effective tax rate, if recognized	18,500,000	16,800,000
Reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits
Balance at beginning of period	24,000,000	11,600,000
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	2,000,000	1,300,000
Additions for tax positions of prior years	5,900,000	13,000,000
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	(1,200,000)	(700,000)
Reductions due to a lapse of the statute of limitations	(1,200,000)	(800,000)
Settlements	(3,900,000)	(400,000)
Balance at end of period	25,600,000	24,000,000	11,600,000
Unrecognized tax benefits, amount accrued for interest and penalties	6,900,000	7,800,000
Alcan Packaging Food Americas
Reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits
Balance at end of period		$ 7,700,000