Consolidating Guarantor Financial Information - Cash Flow 1 (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
Jan. 29, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year		$ 2,489,768	$ 477,239
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities		45,791	149,173
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired		(2,051,645)	0
Acquisition of remaining interest in Shanghai Chemetall, net of cash acquired	(45,550)	(45,550)	0
Capital expenditures		(56,741)	(23,667)
Decrease in restricted cash		57,550	0
Sales of marketable securities, net		1,557	2,151
Proceeds from repayment of advance to joint venture		2,156	0
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity		0
Intercompany investing related payments		0
Net cash used in investing activities		(2,092,673)	(21,516)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt		(1,326,263)us-gaap_RepaymentsOfLongTermDebt	(101)us-gaap_RepaymentsOfLongTermDebt
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt		1,000,000	0
Other borrowings (repayments), net		167,571	(8,434)
Dividends paid to shareholders		(21,730)us-gaap_PaymentsOfDividendsCommonStock	(19,582)us-gaap_PaymentsOfDividendsCommonStock
Intercompany dividends paid		0us-gaap_PaymentsOfDividends
Repurchases of common stock		0	(50,000)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options		90	1,255
Excess tax benefits realized from stock-based compensation arrangements		23	586
Withholding taxes paid on stock-based compensation award distributions		(1,174)	(2,968)
Debt financing costs		(1,164)us-gaap_PaymentsOfFinancingCosts	(1,370)us-gaap_PaymentsOfFinancingCosts
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity		0
Intercompany financing related payments		0
Net cash used in financing activities		(182,647)	(80,614)
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents		1,182	(239)
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents		(2,228,347)	46,804
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		261,421	524,043
2014 Senior Notes \| Issuer
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year		1,930,802	88,476
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities		46,397	58,984
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired		(3,597,083)
Acquisition of remaining interest in Shanghai Chemetall, net of cash acquired		0
Capital expenditures		(19,876)	(14,325)
Decrease in restricted cash		0
Sales of marketable securities, net		1,557	2,163
Proceeds from repayment of advance to joint venture		2,156
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity		0
Intercompany investing related payments		0
Net cash used in investing activities		(3,613,246)	(12,162)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt		(1,325,102)	(101)
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt		1,000,000
Other borrowings (repayments), net		184,418	0
Dividends paid to shareholders		(21,730)	(19,582)
Intercompany dividends paid		0
Repurchases of common stock			(50,000)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options		90	1,255
Excess tax benefits realized from stock-based compensation arrangements		23	586
Withholding taxes paid on stock-based compensation award distributions		(1,174)	(2,968)
Debt financing costs		(1,164)	(1,370)
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity		1,829,770
Intercompany financing related payments		(28,039)
Net cash used in financing activities		1,637,092	(72,180)
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents		1,218	0
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents		(1,928,539)	(25,358)
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		2,263	63,118
2014 Senior Notes \| Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year		0	0
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities		(18,121)	0
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired		159,409
Acquisition of remaining interest in Shanghai Chemetall, net of cash acquired		0
Capital expenditures		0	0
Decrease in restricted cash		0
Sales of marketable securities, net		0	0
Proceeds from repayment of advance to joint venture		0
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity		891,290
Intercompany investing related payments		(1,028,367)
Net cash used in investing activities		22,332	0
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt		0	0
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt		0
Other borrowings (repayments), net		0
Dividends paid to shareholders		0	0
Intercompany dividends paid		0
Repurchases of common stock			0
Proceeds from exercise of stock options		0	0
Excess tax benefits realized from stock-based compensation arrangements		0	0
Withholding taxes paid on stock-based compensation award distributions		0	0
Debt financing costs		0	0
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity		0
Intercompany financing related payments		(82)
Net cash used in financing activities		(82)	0
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents		(2,075)
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents		2,054	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		2,054	0
2014 Senior Notes \| Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year		558,966	388,763
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities		26,593	90,189
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired		1,386,029
Acquisition of remaining interest in Shanghai Chemetall, net of cash acquired		(45,550)
Capital expenditures		(36,865)	(9,342)
Decrease in restricted cash		57,550
Sales of marketable securities, net		0	(12)
Proceeds from repayment of advance to joint venture		0
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity		82
Intercompany investing related payments		(1,175,700)
Net cash used in investing activities		185,546	(9,354)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt		(1,161)	0
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt		0
Other borrowings (repayments), net		(16,847)	(8,434)
Dividends paid to shareholders		0	0
Intercompany dividends paid		(9,078)
Repurchases of common stock			0
Proceeds from exercise of stock options		0	0
Excess tax benefits realized from stock-based compensation arrangements		0	0
Withholding taxes paid on stock-based compensation award distributions		0	0
Debt financing costs		0	0
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity		374,297
Intercompany financing related payments		(863,251)
Net cash used in financing activities		(516,040)	(8,434)
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents		2,039	(239)
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents		(301,862)	72,162
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		257,104	460,925
2014 Senior Notes \| Consolidating Adjustments
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year		0	0
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities		(9,078)	0
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired		0
Acquisition of remaining interest in Shanghai Chemetall, net of cash acquired		0
Capital expenditures		0	0
Decrease in restricted cash		0
Sales of marketable securities, net		0	0
Proceeds from repayment of advance to joint venture		0
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity		(891,372)
Intercompany investing related payments		2,204,067
Net cash used in investing activities		1,312,695	0
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt		0	0
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt		0
Other borrowings (repayments), net		0	0
Dividends paid to shareholders		0	0
Intercompany dividends paid		9,078
Repurchases of common stock			0
Proceeds from exercise of stock options		0	0
Excess tax benefits realized from stock-based compensation arrangements		0	0
Withholding taxes paid on stock-based compensation award distributions		0	0
Debt financing costs		0	0
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity		(2,204,067)
Intercompany financing related payments		891,372
Net cash used in financing activities		(1,303,617)	0
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents		0	0
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents		0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		$ 0	$ 0

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Amount of cash inflow from realized tax benefit related to deductible compensation cost reported on the entity's tax return for equity instruments in excess of the compensation cost for those instruments recognized for financial reporting purposes.

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-Glossary Financing Activities

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6513228

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