Consolidating Guarantor Financial Information - Statements of Cash Flows 1 (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 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	316,903	430,542
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	(164,568)	(76,682)
Decrease in restricted cash	57,550	0
Cash proceeds from divestitures, net	6,133	104,718
Return of capital	98,000	0
Sales of marketable securities, net	1,265	943
Repayments from (long-term advances to) joint ventures	2,156	(7,499)
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity	0
Intercompany investing related payments	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(2,099,954)	21,480
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt	(1,332,293)	(3,023)
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt	1,000,000	0
Repayments of other borrowings, net	(16,854)	(23,554)
Dividends paid to shareholders	(86,770)	(62,827)
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	(23,195)	(7,612)
Intercompany dividends paid	0	0
Repurchases of common stock	0	(150,000)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	342	2,713
Excess tax benefits realized from stock-based compensation arrangements	59	836
Withholding taxes paid on stock-based compensation award distributions	(1,218)	(3,208)
Debt financing costs	(4,186)	(3,074)
Other	(3,882)	0
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity	0
Intercompany financing related payments	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(467,997)	(249,749)
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents	(4,230)	(26,392)
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(2,255,278)	175,881
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	234,490	653,120
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	369,333	203,834
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of Rockwood, net of cash acquired	(3,597,083)
Other acquisitions, net of cash acquired	0
Capital expenditures	(51,900)	(57,124)
Decrease in restricted cash	0
Cash proceeds from divestitures, net	0	97,523
Return of capital	0
Sales of marketable securities, net	1,271	962
Repayments from (long-term advances to) joint ventures	2,156	0
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity	0
Intercompany investing related payments	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(3,645,556)	41,361
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt	(1,325,104)	(108)
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt	1,000,000
Repayments of other borrowings, net	(16,018)	(7,124)
Dividends paid to shareholders	(86,770)	(62,827)
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Intercompany dividends paid	0	0
Repurchases of common stock		(150,000)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	342	2,713
Excess tax benefits realized from stock-based compensation arrangements	59	836
Withholding taxes paid on stock-based compensation award distributions	(1,218)	(3,208)
Debt financing costs	(4,186)	(3,074)
Other	0
Proceeds from intercompany financing related activity	1,845,770
Intercompany financing related payments	(62,039)
Net cash used in financing activities	1,350,836	(222,792)
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents	(999)	0
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(1,926,386)	22,403
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	4,416	110,879
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	(48,867)	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
Cash proceeds from divestitures, net	0	0
Return of capital	0
Sales of marketable securities, net	0	0
Repayments from (long-term advances to) joint ventures	0	0
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity	1,213,717
Intercompany investing related payments	(1,324,960)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	48,166	0
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt	0	0
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt	0
Repayments of other borrowings, net	0	0
Dividends paid to shareholders	0	0
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	0	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	1,886	0
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	1,103	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	1,103	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	19,839	232,718
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	(112,668)	(19,558)
Decrease in restricted cash	57,550
Cash proceeds from divestitures, net	6,133	7,195
Return of capital	98,000
Sales of marketable securities, net	(6)	(19)
Repayments from (long-term advances to) joint ventures	0	(7,499)
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity	82
Intercompany investing related payments	(1,341,728)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	44,547	(19,881)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt	(7,189)	(2,915)
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt	0
Repayments of other borrowings, net	(836)	(16,430)
Dividends paid to shareholders	0	0
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	(23,195)	(7,612)
Intercompany dividends paid	(23,402)	(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	820,918
Intercompany financing related payments	(1,151,678)
Net cash used in financing activities	(389,264)	(32,967)
Net effect of foreign exchange on cash and cash equivalents	(5,117)	(26,392)
(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(329,995)	153,478
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	228,971	542,241
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	(23,402)	(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
Cash proceeds from divestitures, net	0	0
Return of capital	0
Sales of marketable securities, net	0	0
Repayments from (long-term advances to) joint ventures	0	0
Proceeds from intercompany investing related activity	(1,213,799)
Intercompany investing related payments	2,666,688
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	1,452,889	0
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repayments of long-term debt	0	0
Proceeds from borrowings of long-term debt	0
Repayments of other borrowings, net	0	0
Dividends paid to shareholders	0	0
Dividends paid to noncontrolling interests	0	0
Intercompany dividends paid	23,402	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	(2,666,688)
Intercompany financing related payments	1,213,799
Net cash used in financing activities	(1,429,487)	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