Noncontrolling Interests (Details)					9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended					0 Months Ended					9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 TNCLP USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 TNCLP USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 TNCLP USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 TNCLP USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 TNCLP Minimum	Sep. 30, 2013 TNCLP Maximum	Sep. 30, 2013 Viterra Inc USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Viterra Inc USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2013 CFL CAD	Sep. 30, 2013 CFL USD ($) item	Apr. 30, 2013 CFL USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 CFL USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 CFL USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 CFL USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2013 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	Sep. 30, 2013 CFL Viterra Inc Common Stock	Sep. 30, 2013 CFL Viterra Inc Nonvoting preferred shares	Sep. 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														100.00%
Accounts and notes receivable - net	$ 186,900,000	$ 217,400,000									$ 0	$ 2,000,000
Noncontrolling interest	356,100,000	380,000,000	520,800,000	385,900,000	356,100,000	362,900,000	362,600,000	369,200,000			0	5,300,000		0		17,400,000	157,900,000	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
Reduction in paid in capital															800,000,000
Deferred tax asset															100,000,000
Earnings attributable to general partnership interest in excess of the threshold levels					$ 158,300,000	$ 172,300,000
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