Commitments and Contingencies Loss Contingency (Details)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2009 CAD	Jun. 25, 2011 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2007 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 BRI CAD	Jun. 25, 2011 BRI CAD	Dec. 31, 2011 RMMC [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 RMMC [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 25, 2010 RMMC [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 26, 2010 Kaiser purchased tax credits indemnity reserve, category one USD ($)	Dec. 26, 2009 Kaiser purchased tax credits indemnity reserve, category one USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Kaiser purchased tax credits indemnity reserve, category two USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Kaiser purchased tax credits indemnity reserve USD ($) categories	Mar. 31, 2012 Kaiser tax, civil and labor indemnity reserve USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2010 Litigation on product distribution in Brazil USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Litigation on product distribution in Brazil USD ($)	Mar. 27, 2010 Litigation on product distribution in Brazil USD ($)	Sep. 26, 2009 Litigation on product distribution in Brazil USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2000 Litigation on product distribution in Brazil USD ($)	Dec. 31, 1990 Environmental matters, Lowry USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Environmental matters, Lowry USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Environmental matters, Cooper Drum site USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2006 Environmental matters, Cooper Drum site	Mar. 31, 2012 Environmental matters, Rutherford and Berrys Creek site USD ($)
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss contingency, number of categories														2
Cash Settlement											$ 96,000,000						$ 7,100,000
Maximum potential claims eliminated											284,500,000
Indemnity liability, current												131,200,000		8,800,000
Maximum potential claims													242,200,000		68,000,000
Total estimate of indemnity liability														21,900,000
Indemnity liability, noncurrent														13,100,000	9,300,000
Equity interest sold (as a percent)															68.00%
Guarantees
Debt face amount					575,000,000		200,000,000
Gain on liability reduction recorded in special items		2,000,000
Payments of Capital Distribution						93,600,000
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted									9,100,000	29,600,000
Letter of Credit Provided to Entity	10,000,000
Short-term Debt, Refinanced, Amount								16,000,000
Guarantees related to banks and other third parties noncurrent portion			6,200,000	6,100,000
Litigation and Other Disputes
Litigation, vacated court judgment																42,000,000		42,000,000	42,000,000
Estimated Litigation Liability																	4,900,000
Settlement agreement, payment for termination of distribution agreement																				150,000
Environmental
Environmental remediation expense, pretax charge																					30,000,000
Environmental remediation threshold, assumed remediation cost																						120,000,000
Inflation rate assumption, future costs (as a percent)																						2.50%
Risk free rate of return assumption (as a percent)																						1.69%
Site contingency, accrual, present value																						4,300,000
Site contingency, accrual, undiscounted amount																						7,800,000
Number of PRP parties																								60
Accrued estimated liabilities, environmental																						$ 6,200,000	$ 200,000		$ 3,800,000