Trade Accounts Receivable Securitization and Sale Programs - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								3 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2013 Trade Accounts Receivable Factoring Agreement	Nov. 30, 2012 Trade Accounts Receivable Factoring Agreement	Nov. 30, 2013 Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Programs	Nov. 30, 2012 Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Programs	Nov. 30, 2013 Asset-Backed Securitization Programs	Nov. 30, 2012 Asset-Backed Securitization Programs	Nov. 30, 2013 North American Asset-Backed Securitization Program	Aug. 31, 2013 North American Asset-Backed Securitization Program	Nov. 30, 2013 Foreign Asset-Backed Securitization Program	Nov. 30, 2013 200.0 Million Dollar Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Program Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Programs	Nov. 30, 2013 150.0 Million Dollar Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Program Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Programs	Nov. 30, 2013 100.0 Million Dollar Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Program Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Programs	Nov. 30, 2013 40.0 Million Dollar Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Program Trade Accounts Receivable Sale Programs
Trade Accounts Receivable Securitization and Sale Program [Line Items]
Percentage of trade accounts receivable sold to conduits by special purpose entities					100.00%
Trade accounts receivable sale agreement expiration date	Mar. 31, 2014						Oct. 21, 2014		May 15, 2015	Nov. 28, 2014	Nov. 28, 2014	Nov. 01, 2014	Nov. 26, 2014
Maximum net cash proceeds available at any one time under asset-backed securitization program and sales program							$ 200,000,000	$ 300,000,000	$ 200,000,000	$ 200,000,000	$ 150,000,000	$ 100,000,000	$ 40,000,000
Trade accounts receivable sold	500,000	14,200,000	600,000,000	700,000,000	2,200,000,000	2,100,000,000
Cash proceeds for the sale of trade accounts receivable					1,700,000,000	1,700,000,000
Cash proceeds from new transfers	500,000	14,200,000	600,000,000	700,000,000	0	0
Deferred purchases price receivable					544,100,000	436,900,000
Pretax losses on sale of trade accounts receivable					$ 1,100,000	$ 1,100,000
Minimum number of days notice required to cancel receivable sale agreements												15 days	30 days
Agreement extension period												365 days
Agreement extension date												Nov. 01, 2018	Jun. 01, 2015
Minimum number of days notice required to not automatically extend receivable sale agreements												30 days	30 days