Investment in NEC TOKIN - Narrative (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2014 Stockholders Agreement KEC	Mar. 31, 2014 NEC TOKIN	Mar. 31, 2013 NEC TOKIN	Feb. 01, 2013 NEC TOKIN KEC	Feb. 01, 2013 NEC TOKIN Stock Purchase Agreement KEC	Mar. 12, 2012 NEC TOKIN Stock Purchase Agreement KEC	Mar. 31, 2014 NEC TOKIN Stockholders Agreement director_position	Mar. 31, 2014 NEC TOKIN Stockholders Agreement KEC director_position	Mar. 31, 2014 NEC TOKIN Option Agreement KEC number_of_times	Mar. 31, 2014 NEC TOKIN Put Option	Mar. 31, 2014 NEC TOKIN Put Option KEC number_of_times
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Common stock acquired									51.00%
KEMET's equity ownership %					34.00%	34.00%			34.00%			49.00%
Purchase price paid								$ 50,000,000
Number of director positions										7	4
Purchase price for expected additional shares that may be acquired												50,000,000
Ownership interest maintained after acquisition of additional shares (as a percent)												51.00%
LTM EBITDA multiple												6		6
Value of net call derivative options													500,000
Gain (loss) on options	3,111,000	0	0										3,100,000
NEC TOKIN options, net													3,600,000
Purchase price							54,500,000
Investment in NEC TOKIN (excludes non cash investment)	0	50,917,000	0					50,000,000
Transaction expenses							4,500,000
Revenue from Related Parties					6,000,000
Accounts receivable					2,000,000
Accounts payable					100,000
Receivables balance under agreement				$ 700,000