General	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
General	General Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (the “Partnership”) is a publicly traded limited partnership with a diverse set of operations focused primarily in the United States Gulf Coast region. Its four primary business lines include: terminalling and storage services for petroleum products and by-products including the refining, blending, and packaging of finished lubricants; natural gas services, including liquids distribution services and natural gas storage; sulfur and sulfur-based products processing, manufacturing, marketing and distribution; and marine transportation services for petroleum products and by-products. The Partnership’s unaudited consolidated and condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Form 10-Q and United States generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial reporting. Accordingly, these financial statements have been condensed and do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for annual audited financial statements of the type contained in the Partnership’s annual reports on Form 10-K. In the opinion of the management of the Partnership’s general partner, all adjustments and elimination of significant intercompany balances necessary for a fair presentation of the Partnership’s results of operations, financial position and cash flows for the periods shown have been made. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. Results for such interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations for the full year. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Partnership’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Partnership’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 4, 2013, as amended by Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2012 filed on March 28, 2013. Management has made a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reporting of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities to prepare these consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Actual results could differ from those estimates. As discussed in Note 4, on July 31, 2012, the Partnership completed the sale of its East Texas and Northwest Louisiana natural gas gathering and processing assets owned by Prism Gas Systems I, L.P. ("Prism Gas"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Partnership. These assets, along with additional gathering and processing assets discussed in Note 4, are collectively referred to as the "Prism Assets." The Partnership has retrospectively adjusted its prior period consolidated financial statements to comparably classify the amounts related to the operations and cash flows of the Prism Assets as discontinued operations. On October 2, 2012, the Partnership, which owned 10.74% of the Class A interests and 100% of the Class B interests, acquired all of the remaining Class A interests in Redbird Gas Storage LLC ("Redbird") from Martin Underground Storage, Inc., a subsidiary of Martin Resource Management Corporation (“Martin Resource Management” or “Parent”). In 2011, the Partnership and Martin Resource Management formed Redbird, a natural gas storage joint venture to invest in Cardinal Gas Storage Partners LLC (“Cardinal”). Cardinal is a joint venture between Redbird and Energy Capital Partners (“ECP”) that is focused on the development, construction, operation and management of natural gas storage facilities across northern Louisiana and Mississippi. On October 2, 2012, the Partnership acquired from Cross Oil Refining and Marketing, Inc. ("Cross"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Martin Resource Management, certain specialty lubricant product blending and packaging assets (“Blending and Packaging Assets”). The acquisitions of the Redbird Class A interests and the Blending and Packaging Assets were considered a transfer of net assets between entities under common control. As a result, the acquisitions of the Redbird Class A interests and the Blending and Packaging Assets are recorded at amounts based on the historical carrying value of these assets at October 2, 2012, and the Partnership is required to update its historical financial statements to include the activities of the Redbird Class A interests and the Blending and Packaging Assets as of the date of common control. The Partnership’s accompanying historical financial statements have been retrospectively updated to reflect the effects on financial position, cash flows and results of operations attributable to the activities of the Redbird Class A interests and the Blending and Packaging Assets as if the Partnership owned these assets for the periods presented. Net income attributable to the Redbird Class A interests and the activities of the Blending and Packaging Assets for periods prior to the Partnership’s acquisition of the assets is not allocated to the general and limited partners for purposes of calculating net income per limited partner unit. See Note 10.

General

Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (the “Partnership”) is a publicly traded limited partnership with a diverse set of operations focused primarily in the United States Gulf Coast region. Its four primary business lines include: terminalling and storage services for petroleum products and by-products including the refining, blending, and packaging of finished lubricants; natural gas services, including liquids distribution services and natural gas storage; sulfur and sulfur-based products processing, manufacturing, marketing and distribution; and marine transportation services for petroleum products and by-products.

The Partnership’s unaudited consolidated and condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Form 10-Q and United States generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial reporting. Accordingly, these financial statements have been condensed and do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for annual audited financial statements of the type contained in the Partnership’s annual reports on Form 10-K. In the opinion of the management of the Partnership’s general partner, all adjustments and elimination of significant intercompany balances necessary for a fair presentation of the Partnership’s results of operations, financial position and cash flows for the periods shown have been made. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. Results for such interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations for the full year. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Partnership’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Partnership’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 4, 2013, as amended by Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2012 filed on March 28, 2013.

Management has made a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reporting of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities to prepare these consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

As discussed in Note 4, on July 31, 2012, the Partnership completed the sale of its East Texas and Northwest Louisiana natural gas gathering and processing assets owned by Prism Gas Systems I, L.P. ("Prism Gas"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Partnership. These assets, along with additional gathering and processing assets discussed in Note 4, are collectively referred to as the "Prism Assets." The Partnership has retrospectively adjusted its prior period consolidated financial statements to comparably classify the amounts related to the operations and cash flows of the Prism Assets as discontinued operations.

On October 2, 2012, the Partnership, which owned 10.74% of the Class A interests and 100% of the Class B interests, acquired all of the remaining Class A interests in Redbird Gas Storage LLC ("Redbird") from Martin Underground Storage, Inc., a subsidiary of Martin Resource Management Corporation (“Martin Resource Management” or “Parent”). In 2011, the Partnership and Martin Resource Management formed Redbird, a natural gas storage joint venture to invest in Cardinal Gas Storage Partners LLC (“Cardinal”). Cardinal is a joint venture between Redbird and Energy Capital Partners (“ECP”) that is focused on the development, construction, operation and management of natural gas storage facilities across northern Louisiana and Mississippi.

On October 2, 2012, the Partnership acquired from Cross Oil Refining and Marketing, Inc. ("Cross"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Martin Resource Management, certain specialty lubricant product blending and packaging assets (“Blending and Packaging Assets”).

The acquisitions of the Redbird Class A interests and the Blending and Packaging Assets were considered a transfer of net assets between entities under common control. As a result, the acquisitions of the Redbird Class A interests and the Blending and Packaging Assets are recorded at amounts based on the historical carrying value of these assets at October 2, 2012, and the Partnership is required to update its historical financial statements to include the activities of the Redbird Class A interests and the Blending and Packaging Assets as of the date of common control. The Partnership’s accompanying historical financial statements have been retrospectively updated to reflect the effects on financial position, cash flows and results of operations attributable to the activities of the Redbird Class A interests and the Blending and Packaging Assets as if the Partnership owned these assets for the periods presented. Net income attributable to the Redbird Class A interests and the activities of the Blending and Packaging Assets for periods prior to the Partnership’s acquisition of the assets is not allocated to the general and limited partners for purposes of calculating net income per limited partner unit. See Note 10.