Industry Segments and Foreign Operations - Additional Information (Details) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of operating segments \| segment	2
Capital expenditures	$ 71,595	$ 62,885
Polymer
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Capital expenditures	37,400	35,400
Chemical
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Capital expenditures	$ 34,200	$ 27,500

Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration