Supplemental Guarantor Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 89,118	$ 121,749	$ 143,548	$ 70,049
Receivables, net of allowances	253,437	200,860
Inventories of products, net	362,831	327,996
Inventories of materials and supplies, net	24,832	22,392
Prepaid expenses	36,348	35,851
Other current assets	45,993	37,658
Total current assets	812,559	746,506
Property, plant, and equipment, less accumulated depreciation	942,834	906,722
Goodwill	773,635	770,012
Intangible assets, less accumulated amortization	416,747	439,198
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Investment in unconsolidated joint venture	12,098	11,195
Debt issuance costs	2,633	3,511
Deferred income taxes	8,766	6,907
Other long-term assets	23,334	22,594
Total assets	2,992,606	2,906,645
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	33,553	41,825
Accounts payable-trade	156,426	150,081
Other payables and accruals	151,856	130,398
Due to related party	16,045	14,669
Total current liabilities	357,880	336,973
Long-term debt, net of current portion	1,667,074	1,697,700
Deferred income taxes	215,145	211,396
Other long-term liabilities	168,139	170,339
Total liabilities	2,408,238	2,416,408
Commitments and contingencies (note 10)
Stockholders' and member's equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 100,000 shares authorized; none issued	0	0
Common stock, $0.01 par value; 500,000 shares authorized	313	310
Additional paid in capital	369,702	361,682
Member's equity	0	0
Retained earnings	282,380	254,439
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(97,105)	(158,530)
Total Kraton stockholders' equity	555,290	457,901
Noncontrolling interest	29,078	32,336
Total equity	584,368	490,237	534,728	392,992
Total liabilities and equity	2,992,606	2,906,645
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Receivables, net of allowances	0	0
Inventories of products, net	0	0
Inventories of materials and supplies, net	0	0
Prepaid expenses	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property, plant, and equipment, less accumulated depreciation	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Intangible assets, less accumulated amortization	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	(1,547,147)	(3,568,710)
Investment in unconsolidated joint venture	0	0
Debt issuance costs	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other long-term assets	(1,965,645)	(2,938,001)
Total assets	(3,512,792)	(6,506,711)
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable-trade	0	0
Other payables and accruals	0	0
Due to related party	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt, net of current portion	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	(1,965,645)	(2,938,001)
Total liabilities	(1,965,645)	(2,938,001)
Commitments and contingencies (note 10)
Stockholders' and member's equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 100,000 shares authorized; none issued	0	0
Common stock, $0.01 par value; 500,000 shares authorized	0	0
Additional paid in capital	0	0
Member's equity	(1,547,147)	(3,568,710)
Retained earnings	0	0
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	0	0
Total Kraton stockholders' equity	(1,547,147)	(3,568,710)
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total equity	(1,547,147)	(3,568,710)
Total liabilities and equity	(3,512,792)	(6,506,711)
Kraton Corporation | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Receivables, net of allowances	0	0
Inventories of products, net	0	0
Inventories of materials and supplies, net	0	0
Prepaid expenses	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property, plant, and equipment, less accumulated depreciation	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Intangible assets, less accumulated amortization	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	652,395	616,431
Investment in unconsolidated joint venture	0	0
Debt issuance costs	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other long-term assets	0	0
Total assets	652,395	616,431
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable-trade	0	0
Other payables and accruals	0	0
Due to related party	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt, net of current portion	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	0	0
Commitments and contingencies (note 10)
Stockholders' and member's equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 100,000 shares authorized; none issued	0	0
Common stock, $0.01 par value; 500,000 shares authorized	313	310
Additional paid in capital	369,702	361,682
Member's equity	0	0
Retained earnings	282,380	254,439
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	0	0
Total Kraton stockholders' equity	652,395	616,431
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total equity	652,395	616,431
Total liabilities and equity	652,395	616,431
Kraton Polymers LLC | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	1,903	214	21	7,256
Receivables, net of allowances	1,084	468
Inventories of products, net	89	(1,634)
Inventories of materials and supplies, net	0	0
Prepaid expenses	4,993	6,077
Other current assets	1,281	253
Total current assets	9,350	5,378
Property, plant, and equipment, less accumulated depreciation	20,955	27,123
Goodwill	0	0
Intangible assets, less accumulated amortization	28,909	32,493
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	894,752	2,952,279
Investment in unconsolidated joint venture	813	813
Debt issuance costs	0	0
Deferred income taxes	213	213
Other long-term assets	910,871	77,963
Total assets	1,865,863	3,096,262
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	0	29,250
Accounts payable-trade	1,823	5,318
Other payables and accruals	43,832	22,266
Due to related party	0	0
Total current liabilities	45,655	56,834
Long-term debt, net of current portion	1,274,842	1,591,637
Deferred income taxes	(106,969)	(104,841)
Other long-term liabilities	258	937,569
Total liabilities	1,213,786	2,481,199
Commitments and contingencies (note 10)
Stockholders' and member's equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 100,000 shares authorized; none issued	0	0
Common stock, $0.01 par value; 500,000 shares authorized	0	0
Additional paid in capital	0	0
Member's equity	652,395	616,431
Retained earnings	0	0
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(318)	(1,368)
Total Kraton stockholders' equity	652,077	615,063
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total equity	652,077	615,063
Total liabilities and equity	1,865,863	3,096,262
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	4,514	6,280	22,161	11,595
Receivables, net of allowances	106,007	95,398
Inventories of products, net	188,728	176,301
Inventories of materials and supplies, net	13,890	13,521
Prepaid expenses	20,556	20,635
Other current assets	5,879	8,209
Total current assets	339,574	320,344
Property, plant, and equipment, less accumulated depreciation	461,777	457,031
Goodwill	740,390	740,394
Intangible assets, less accumulated amortization	327,531	351,155
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Investment in unconsolidated joint venture	0	0
Debt issuance costs	2,633	3,511
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other long-term assets	238,716	1,876,402
Total assets	2,110,621	3,748,837
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	1,009	990
Accounts payable-trade	72,878	73,501
Other payables and accruals	43,285	51,488
Due to related party	0	0
Total current liabilities	117,172	125,979
Long-term debt, net of current portion	1,330	2,051
Deferred income taxes	277,893	277,756
Other long-term liabilities	1,261,509	1,142,952
Total liabilities	1,657,904	1,548,738
Commitments and contingencies (note 10)
Stockholders' and member's equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 100,000 shares authorized; none issued	0	0
Common stock, $0.01 par value; 500,000 shares authorized	0	0
Additional paid in capital	0	0
Member's equity	519,466	2,266,840
Retained earnings	0	0
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(66,749)	(66,741)
Total Kraton stockholders' equity	452,717	2,200,099
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total equity	452,717	2,200,099
Total liabilities and equity	2,110,621	3,748,837
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	82,701	115,255	$ 121,366	$ 51,198
Receivables, net of allowances	146,346	104,994
Inventories of products, net	174,014	153,329
Inventories of materials and supplies, net	10,942	8,871
Prepaid expenses	10,799	9,139
Other current assets	38,833	29,196
Total current assets	463,635	420,784
Property, plant, and equipment, less accumulated depreciation	460,102	422,568
Goodwill	33,245	29,618
Intangible assets, less accumulated amortization	60,307	55,550
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Investment in unconsolidated joint venture	11,285	10,382
Debt issuance costs	0	0
Deferred income taxes	8,553	6,694
Other long-term assets	839,392	1,006,230
Total assets	1,876,519	1,951,826
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt	32,544	11,585
Accounts payable-trade	81,725	71,262
Other payables and accruals	64,739	56,644
Due to related party	16,045	14,669
Total current liabilities	195,053	154,160
Long-term debt, net of current portion	390,902	104,012
Deferred income taxes	44,221	38,481
Other long-term liabilities	872,017	1,027,819
Total liabilities	1,502,193	1,324,472
Commitments and contingencies (note 10)
Stockholders' and member's equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; 100,000 shares authorized; none issued	0	0
Common stock, $0.01 par value; 500,000 shares authorized	0	0
Additional paid in capital	0	0
Member's equity	375,286	685,439
Retained earnings	0	0
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(30,038)	(90,421)
Total Kraton stockholders' equity	345,248	595,018
Noncontrolling interest	29,078	32,336
Total equity	374,326	627,354
Total liabilities and equity	$ 1,876,519	$ 1,951,826