Background and Basis of Presentation	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION	BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION Background – Platform Specialty Products Corporation was incorporated in Delaware in January 2014 and its common stock, par value $0.01 per share, trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “PAH.” Platform is a global and diversified producer of high-technology specialty chemical products. Platform's business involves the blending of a number of key ingredients to produce proprietary formulations. The Company operates in a wide variety of niche markets across multiple industries, including automotive, agricultural, animal health, electronics, graphics, and offshore oil and gas production and drilling. Platform delivers its products to customers through its sales and service workforce, regional distributors and manufacturing representatives. Platform has leading positions in niche segments of high-growth markets. The Company continually seeks opportunities to grow and enhance its strategic position by pursuing inorganic initiatives, focusing on specialty chemical businesses or assets within its existing or complementary end-markets, particularly those meeting its “Asset-Lite, High-Touch” philosophy, which involves prioritizing resources to research and development, offering highly technical sales and customer service, and managing conservatively its capital investments. Platform regularly reviews acquisition opportunities and may acquire businesses that meet its acquisition criteria when it deems it to be financially prudent. The Company's operations are organized into two reportable segments: Performance Solutions and Agricultural Solutions. The reporting segments represent businesses for which separate financial information is utilized by the chief operating decision maker, or CODM, for purpose of allocating resources and evaluating performance. Each of the reportable segments has its own president who reports to the CODM. Performance Solutions – The Performance Solutions segment formulates and markets dynamic chemistry solutions worldwide which are used in automotive production, electronics, commercial packaging and printing, and oil and gas production and drilling. Its products include chemicals for metal deposition, functional conversion coatings, electronics assembly materials, water-based hydraulic control fluids, photopolymers, and other specialty chemistries that modify surfaces. In conjunction with the sale of its products, the segment provides extensive technical service and support to assure functional performance of the process used at its customer manufacturing locations. The segment provides specialty chemical solutions through the following five businesses: Assembly Solutions, Electronics Solutions, Industrial Solutions, Graphic Solutions and Offshore Solutions. Agricultural Solutions – The Agricultural Solutions segment specializes in the development, formulation, registration, marketing and distribution of differentiated Crop Protection solutions, including BioSolutions and Seed Treatments, for a variety of crops and applications. Its diverse Crop Protection chemicals control biotic stresses, such as weeds (herbicides), insects (insecticides) and diseases (fungicides). Its portfolio of proven BioSolutions is comprised of BioStimulants, which are derived from natural substances applied to plants, seeds or the soil in order to enhance yields and help crops withstand abiotic stress, such as drought or cold, and BioControl products, which perform the same task as conventional Crop Protection products with, in many cases, the added benefit of reduced chemical residues. The solutions are offered in multiple forms, such as foliar applications (direct application to leaves), furrow treatment (treatment of soil trenches or grooves wherein seeds are sown) or Seed Treatment (seed coating prior to planting). Its products allow it to partner with growers to address the ever-increasing need for higher crop yield and food quality. Basis of Presentation – The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP and include the accounts of Platform and all of its controlled subsidiaries. The Company consolidates the income, expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows of its subsidiaries from the date it acquires control or becomes the primary beneficiary. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation. In August 2017, the Company announced its intention to separate its Agricultural Solutions business into a standalone, independent company. The Agricultural Solutions business continues to be reported as part of the Company's continuing operations as the criteria for discontinued operations were not met at December 31, 2017. In preparing the Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with GAAP, management must use estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. The Company applies judgment based on its understanding and analysis of the relevant circumstances, and by their nature, these judgments are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. Accordingly, actual results could differ significantly from the estimates applied. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.

BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Background – Platform Specialty Products Corporation was incorporated in Delaware in January 2014 and its common stock, par value $0.01 per share, trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “PAH.”

Platform is a global and diversified producer of high-technology specialty chemical products. Platform's business involves the blending of a number of key ingredients to produce proprietary formulations. The Company operates in a wide variety of niche markets across multiple industries, including automotive, agricultural, animal health, electronics, graphics, and offshore oil and gas production and drilling. Platform delivers its products to customers through its sales and service workforce, regional distributors and manufacturing representatives.

Platform has leading positions in niche segments of high-growth markets. The Company continually seeks opportunities to grow and enhance its strategic position by pursuing inorganic initiatives, focusing on specialty chemical businesses or assets within its existing or complementary end-markets, particularly those meeting its “Asset-Lite, High-Touch” philosophy, which involves prioritizing resources to research and development, offering highly technical sales and customer service, and managing conservatively its capital investments. Platform regularly reviews acquisition opportunities and may acquire businesses that meet its acquisition criteria when it deems it to be financially prudent.

The Company's operations are organized into two reportable segments: Performance Solutions and Agricultural Solutions. The reporting segments represent businesses for which separate financial information is utilized by the chief operating decision maker, or CODM, for purpose of allocating resources and evaluating performance. Each of the reportable segments has its own president who reports to the CODM.

Performance Solutions – The Performance Solutions segment formulates and markets dynamic chemistry solutions worldwide which are used in automotive production, electronics, commercial packaging and printing, and oil and gas production and drilling. Its products include chemicals for metal deposition, functional conversion coatings, electronics assembly materials, water-based hydraulic control fluids, photopolymers, and other specialty chemistries that modify surfaces. In conjunction with the sale of its products, the segment provides extensive technical service and support to assure functional performance of the process used at its customer manufacturing locations. The segment provides specialty chemical solutions through the following five businesses: Assembly Solutions, Electronics Solutions, Industrial Solutions, Graphic Solutions and Offshore Solutions.

Agricultural Solutions – The Agricultural Solutions segment specializes in the development, formulation, registration, marketing and distribution of differentiated Crop Protection solutions, including BioSolutions and Seed Treatments, for a variety of crops and applications. Its diverse Crop Protection chemicals control biotic stresses, such as weeds (herbicides), insects (insecticides) and diseases (fungicides). Its portfolio of proven BioSolutions is comprised of BioStimulants, which are derived from natural substances applied to plants, seeds or the soil in order to enhance yields and help crops withstand abiotic stress, such as drought or cold, and BioControl products, which perform the same task as conventional Crop Protection products with, in many cases, the added benefit of reduced chemical residues. The solutions are offered in multiple forms, such as foliar applications (direct application to leaves), furrow treatment (treatment of soil trenches or grooves wherein seeds are sown) or Seed Treatment (seed coating prior to planting). Its products allow it to partner with growers to address the ever-increasing need for higher crop yield and food quality.

Basis of Presentation – The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP and include the accounts of Platform and all of its controlled subsidiaries. The Company consolidates the income, expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows of its subsidiaries from the date it acquires control or becomes the primary beneficiary. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation. In August 2017, the Company announced its intention to separate its Agricultural Solutions business into a standalone, independent company. The Agricultural Solutions business continues to be reported as part of the Company's continuing operations as the criteria for discontinued operations were not met at December 31, 2017.

In preparing the Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with GAAP, management must use estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. The Company applies judgment based on its understanding and analysis of the relevant circumstances, and by their nature, these judgments are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. Accordingly, actual results could differ significantly from the estimates applied.

Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.