Noncontrolling Interests (Details)					6 Months Ended				6 Months Ended				6 Months Ended					0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 TNCLP USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 TNCLP USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 TNCLP USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 TNCLP USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 TNCLP Minimum	Jun. 30, 2013 TNCLP Maximum	Jun. 30, 2013 Viterra Inc USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Viterra Inc USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 CFL item	Apr. 30, 2013 CFL CAD	Dec. 31, 2012 CFL USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 CFL USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 CFL USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2013 CFL CF Industries	Dec. 31, 2012 CFL CF Industries	Apr. 30, 2013 CFL CF Industries Common Stock	Apr. 30, 2013 CFL CF Industries Nonvoting preferred shares	Apr. 30, 2013 CFL Viterra Inc Maximum	Apr. 30, 2013 CFL Viterra Inc Common Stock	Jun. 30, 2013 CFL Viterra Inc Common Stock	Jun. 30, 2013 CFL Viterra Inc Nonvoting preferred shares	Jun. 30, 2013 CFL Growmark and La Coop Federee Common Stock
Noncontrolling interest
Number of world-scale ammonia plants													2
Reporting entity's ownership interest in VIE (as a percent)																				49.00%	66.00%
Percentage of ammonia and urea production purchased																		66.00%
Percentage of ammonia and urea production for which there is a right to purchase prior to acquisition																						34.00%
Third Party's ownership interest in VIE (as a percent)																							34.00%	34.00%	34.00%	17.00%
Percentage of the facility's ammonia and granular urea production that the reporting entity is required to purchase pursuant to a product purchase agreement																			100.00%
Accounts receivable - net	$ 294,300,000	$ 217,400,000									$ 0	$ 2,000,000
Noncontrolling interest	364,800,000	380,000,000	480,800,000	385,900,000	364,800,000	365,100,000	362,600,000	369,200,000			0	5,300,000			17,400,000	115,700,000	16,700,000
Percentage of aggregate ownership held by entity through general and limited partnership					75.30%
Percentage of ownership interest held by outside investors					24.70%
Total purchase price														900,000,000
Earnings attributable to general partnership interest in excess of the threshold levels					$ 133,700,000	$ 116,700,000
Percentage of ownership allowing majority owner to acquire outstanding units										25.00%
Notice period for making decision to purchase the outstanding units									30 days	60 days
Average trading days for which purchase price is greater					20 days
Number of days before announcing purchase price					5 days
Period within which highest price is paid for any unit preceding the date of purchase is announced					90 days