Document and Entity Information	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jul. 20, 2012
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jun. 30, 2012
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Trading Symbol	CYT
Entity Registrant Name	CYTEC INDUSTRIES INC/DE/
Entity Central Index Key	0000912513
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		46,057,597