Consolidated Statements Of Operations And Comprehensive Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Net sales	$ 366,190	$ 301,080	$ 226,859
Cost of sales	205,065	178,012	140,538
Gross profit	161,125	123,068	86,321
Operating expenses	101,802	83,842	67,130
Operating income	59,323	39,226	19,191
Interest expense	2,872	3,569	3,171
Interest income	(1)	(3)
Interest capitalized	(400)	(109)	(154)
Extinguishment of debt		546
Income (loss) before income taxes total	56,852	35,223	16,174
Income taxes expense	20,026	13,155	5,190
Net income	36,826	22,068	10,984
Net loss attributable to non-controlling interest	(41)
Net income attributable to American Vanguard	36,867	22,068	10,984
Change in fair value of interest rate swaps	158	(869)	1,094
Foreign currency translation adjustment	330	(933)	201
Comprehensive income	$ 37,355	$ 20,266	$ 12,279
Earnings per common share-basic	$ 1.32	$ 0.80	$ 0.40
Earnings per common share-assuming dilution	$ 1.28	$ 0.79	$ 0.40
Weighted average shares outstanding-basic	27,914	27,559	27,385
Weighted average shares outstanding-assuming dilution	28,756	27,875	27,652