Note 7 - Retirement Plan (Details Textual) - Friedman Industries, Inc. Employee's Retirement and 401(k) Plan [Member] - UNITED STATES - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Employee Service Vesting Period	6 years
Maximum Annual Contribution Percentage to Defined Contribution Plan for Eligible Employee Compensation	15.00%
Defined Contribution Plan, Cost	$ 162,000	$ 170,000
Deferred Compensation Arrangement with Individual, Requisite Service Period	1 year
Defined Benefit Plan, Plan Assets, Contributions by Employer	$ 37,500	$ 32,000

For a defined benefit plan, the length of an employee's service required to fully vest.

No definition available.

Name:	frd_EmployeeServiceVestingPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	frd_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Maximum annual contribution percentage to defined contribution plan for eligible employee compensation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	frd_MaximumAnnualContributionPercentageToDefinedContributionPlanForEligibleEmployeeCompensation
Namespace Prefix:	frd_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Minimum period the individual is required to perform services to be fully vested under the deferred compensation arrangement, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 710
-SubTopic 10
-Section 55
-Paragraph 7
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6409961&loc=d3e20487-108367

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109197908&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DeferredCompensationArrangementWithIndividualRequisiteServicePeriod1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of contribution received by defined benefit plan from employer which increases plan assets.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 17
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=112275985&loc=d3e4179-114921

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)(iv)(01)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108410482&loc=d3e1928-114920

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)(ii)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108410482&loc=d3e1928-114920

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108410482&loc=d3e2709-114920

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108410482&loc=d3e1928-114920

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedBenefitPlanContributionsByEmployer
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of cost for defined contribution plan.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 70
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49170846&loc=d3e28014-114942

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanCostRecognized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RetirementPlanNameAxis=frd_FriedmanIndustriesIncEmployeesRetirementAnd401kPlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RetirementPlanSponsorLocationAxis=country_US
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: