Consolidating Guarantor Financial Information - Statements of Cash Flows 2 (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 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	133,183	295,147
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired	(2,051,645)	0
Other acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(48,845)	0
Capital expenditures	(111,723)	(46,670)
Decrease in restricted cash	57,550	0
Sales of marketable securities, net	1,433	642
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	(2,151,074)	(46,028)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt	(1,331,648)	(3,016)
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt	1,000,000	0
Other borrowings (repayments), net	133,699	(13,083)
Dividends paid to shareholders	(54,238)	(41,316)
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	(8,282)	0
Intercompany dividends paid	0	0
Repurchases of common stock	0	(150,000)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	342	2,355
Excess tax benefits realized from stock-based compensation arrangements	59	767
Withholding taxes paid on stock-based compensation award distributions	(1,218)	(3,150)
Debt financing costs	(1,164)	(1,372)
Other	(3,882)	0
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity	0
Intercompany financing related payments	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(266,332)	(208,815)
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents	1,693	(2,424)
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(2,282,530)	37,880
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	207,238	515,119
4.625% Senior Notes | Parent Company Guarantor
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	163,838	148,261
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired	(3,597,083)
Other acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0
Capital expenditures	(36,542)	(31,749)
Decrease in restricted cash	0
Sales of marketable securities, net	1,435	660
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	(3,630,034)	(31,089)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt	(1,325,101)	(101)
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt	1,000,000
Other borrowings (repayments), net	135,965	0
Dividends paid to shareholders	(54,238)	(41,316)
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	0
Intercompany dividends paid	0	0
Repurchases of common stock		(150,000)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	342	2,355
Excess tax benefits realized from stock-based compensation arrangements	59	767
Withholding taxes paid on stock-based compensation award distributions	(1,218)	(3,150)
Debt financing costs	(1,164)	(1,372)
Other	0
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity	1,845,770
Intercompany financing related payments	(62,039)
Net cash used in financing activities	1,538,376	(192,817)
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents	(999)	0
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(1,928,819)	(75,645)
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	1,983	12,831
4.625% Senior Notes | Issuer
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	(56,681)	0
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired	159,409
Other acquisitions, 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	1,044,810
Intercompany investing related payments	(1,148,029)
Net cash used in investing activities	56,190	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
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	0
Intercompany dividends paid	0	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
Other	0
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity	0
Intercompany financing related payments	0
Net cash used in financing activities	0	0
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents	1,675	0
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	1,184	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	1,184	0
4.625% 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	82	0
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired	0
Other acquisitions, 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	0
Intercompany investing related payments	0
Net cash used in investing activities	0	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
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	0
Intercompany dividends paid	0	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
Other	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	0	0
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	0	0
4.625% 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	49,191	152,896
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired	1,386,029
Other acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(48,845)
Capital expenditures	(75,181)	(14,921)
Decrease in restricted cash	57,550
Sales of marketable securities, net	(2)	(18)
Proceeds from repayment of advance to joint venture	0
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity	82
Intercompany investing related payments	(1,198,221)
Net cash used in investing activities	121,412	(14,939)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt	(6,547)	(2,915)
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt	0
Other borrowings (repayments), net	(2,266)	(13,083)
Dividends paid to shareholders	0	0
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	(8,282)
Intercompany dividends paid	(23,247)	(6,010)
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
Other	(3,882)
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity	500,480
Intercompany financing related payments	(982,771)
Net cash used in financing activities	(526,515)	(22,008)
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents	1,017	(2,424)
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(354,895)	113,525
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	204,071	502,288
4.625% 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	(23,247)	(6,010)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired	0
Other acquisitions, 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	(1,044,892)
Intercompany investing related payments	2,346,250
Net cash used in investing activities	1,301,358	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
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	0
Intercompany dividends paid	23,247	6,010
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
Other	0
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity	(2,346,250)
Intercompany financing related payments	1,044,892
Net cash used in financing activities	(1,278,111)	6,010
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