Stock-Based Compensation - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			6 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Oct. 02, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Oct. 02, 2011	Apr. 01, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012 2000 Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 2002 Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Active Incentive Plan [Member] CompensationPlan	Jan. 31, 2012 Chief Executive Officer [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Chief Executive Officer [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Chief Executive Officer [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Maximum [Member]	Apr. 01, 2012 Performance-Based RSU [Member] Chief Executive Officer [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Performance-Based RSU [Member] Chief Executive Officer [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Performance-Based RSU [Member] Chief Executive Officer [Member]	Jul. 31, 2009 Performance-Based RSU [Member] Executives [Member]	Oct. 02, 2011 Performance-Based RSU [Member] Executives [Member]	Oct. 02, 2011 Performance-Based RSU [Member] Executives [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Equity Incentive Plans [Member] Minimum [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Bonus RSUs [Member] Chief Executive Officer [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Bonus RSUs [Member] Chief Executive Officer [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Bonus RSUs [Member] Chief Executive Officer [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Bonus RSUs [Member] Chief Executive Officer [Member] First Installment [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Bonus RSUs [Member] Chief Executive Officer [Member] Second Installment [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Employee Stock Participation Plan [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Employee's percentage of public purchase price of common stock																										95.00%
The Sipex Corporation 2000, 2002 Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan expired							Oct. 31, 2010	Oct. 01, 2011
Number of equity incentive plans									2
Shares of common stock, additional shares authorized to issue																				5,500,000
Shares of common stock, authorized to issue													8,300,000
Shares available for future grant		4,700,000		4,700,000
Closing price of common stock		$ 8.00		$ 8.00		$ 8.40
Granted performance-based stock options										480,000
Forfeiture of options if financial measures are not met period	2 years
Stock-based compensation expense		$ 1,347,000	$ 1,177,000	$ 1,521,000	$ 2,061,000						$ 130,000	$ 65,000			$ 112,000	$ 224,000		$ 27,000	$ 54,000
Performance based RSUs vesting period												4 years				3 years
Granted, shares														300,000			99,000				29,000
Share based compensation installments																								50.00%	50.00%
Compensation expense for awards																						$ 94,000	$ 188,000
Share based compensation vesting period																							The RSUs vest 50% on the date that is six months after the commencement of the fiscal year 2013 and 50% on the last day of fiscal year 2013.