Segment and Geographic Area Information Summarized Financial Information by Reportable Segments (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 3,327,957,000	$ 3,128,909,000	$ 3,589,427,000
Adjusted EBITDA	870,974,000	818,738,000	1,036,781,000
Net income attributable to joint venture	123,672,000	375,764,000	533,228,000
Depreciation and amortization	254,000,000	231,984,000	213,484,000
Restructuring and other	3,027,000	19,597,000	5,877,000
Gain on sale of business/interest in properties, net	(295,971,000)	0	0
Acquisition and integration related costs	12,670,000	17,263,000	20,684,000
Gain on sale of property	0	0	(14,411,000)
Interest and financing expenses	61,476,000	73,116,000	57,695,000
Income tax expense	29,446,000	54,425,000	88,161,000
Non-operating pension and OPEB items	(78,814,000)	40,668,000	26,970,000
Windfield tax settlement			17,292,000
Legal accrual	657,412,000
Albemarle Foundation contribution	20,000,000
Indemnification adjustments	39,381,000
Other	44,675,000	5,921,000	23,035,000
Selling, general and administrative expenses
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Restructuring and other		19,200,000
Acquisition and integration related costs	12,700,000	17,300,000	20,700,000
Gain on sale of property		(3,300,000)
Reportable Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Adjusted EBITDA	947,161,000	846,832,000	1,124,015,000
Net income attributable to joint venture	557,098,000	632,355,000	841,398,000
Depreciation and amortization	241,541,000	213,149,000	197,179,000
Restructuring and other	0	0	0
Gain on sale of business/interest in properties, net	132,400,000
Acquisition and integration related costs	0	0	0
Gain on sale of property			0
Interest and financing expenses	0	0	0
Income tax expense	0	0	0
Non-operating pension and OPEB items	0	0	0
Windfield tax settlement			17,292,000
Legal accrual	0
Albemarle Foundation contribution	0
Indemnification adjustments	0
Other	16,122,000	1,328,000	3,380,000
Reportable Segments | Lithium
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	1,363,284,000	1,144,778,000	1,358,170,000
Adjusted EBITDA	479,538,000	393,093,000	524,934,000
Net income attributable to joint venture	192,244,000	277,711,000	341,767,000
Depreciation and amortization	138,772,000	112,854,000	99,424,000
Restructuring and other	0	0	0
Gain on sale of business/interest in properties, net	132,400,000
Acquisition and integration related costs	0	0	0
Gain on sale of property			0
Interest and financing expenses	0	0	0
Income tax expense	0	0	0
Non-operating pension and OPEB items	0	0	0
Windfield tax settlement			17,292,000
Legal accrual	0
Albemarle Foundation contribution	0
Indemnification adjustments	0
Other	16,122,000	2,528,000	1,685,000
Reportable Segments | Bromine
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	1,128,343,000	964,962,000	1,004,216,000
Adjusted EBITDA	360,682,000	323,605,000	328,457,000
Net income attributable to joint venture	309,501,000	274,495,000	279,945,000
Depreciation and amortization	51,181,000	50,310,000	47,611,000
Restructuring and other	0	0	0
Gain on sale of business/interest in properties, net	0
Acquisition and integration related costs	0	0	0
Gain on sale of property			0
Interest and financing expenses	0	0	0
Income tax expense	0	0	0
Non-operating pension and OPEB items	0	0	0
Windfield tax settlement			0
Legal accrual	0
Albemarle Foundation contribution	0
Indemnification adjustments	0
Other	0	(1,200,000)	901,000
Reportable Segments | Catalysts
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	761,235,000	797,914,000	1,061,817,000
Adjusted EBITDA	106,941,000	130,134,000	270,624,000
Net income attributable to joint venture	55,353,000	80,149,000	219,686,000
Depreciation and amortization	51,588,000	49,985,000	50,144,000
Restructuring and other	0	0	0
Gain on sale of business/interest in properties, net	0
Acquisition and integration related costs	0	0	0
Gain on sale of property			0
Interest and financing expenses	0	0	0
Income tax expense	0	0	0
Non-operating pension and OPEB items	0	0	0
Windfield tax settlement			0
Legal accrual	0
Albemarle Foundation contribution	0
Indemnification adjustments	0
Other	0	0	794,000
All Other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	75,095,000	221,255,000	165,224,000
Adjusted EBITDA	29,858,000	84,821,000	49,628,000
Net income attributable to joint venture	27,988,000	76,323,000	41,188,000
Depreciation and amortization	1,870,000	8,498,000	8,440,000
Restructuring and other	0	0	0
Gain on sale of business/interest in properties, net	0
Acquisition and integration related costs	0	0	0
Gain on sale of property			0
Interest and financing expenses	0	0	0
Income tax expense	0	0	0
Non-operating pension and OPEB items	0	0	0
Windfield tax settlement			0
Legal accrual	0
Albemarle Foundation contribution	0
Indemnification adjustments	0
Other	0	0	0
Corporate
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Adjusted EBITDA	(106,045,000)	(112,915,000)	(136,862,000)
Net income attributable to joint venture	(461,414,000)	(332,914,000)	(349,358,000)
Depreciation and amortization	10,589,000	10,337,000	7,865,000
Restructuring and other	3,027,000	19,597,000	5,877,000
Gain on sale of business/interest in properties, net	(428,371,000)
Acquisition and integration related costs	12,670,000	17,263,000	20,684,000
Gain on sale of property			(14,411,000)
Interest and financing expenses	61,476,000	73,116,000	57,695,000
Income tax expense	29,446,000	54,425,000	88,161,000
Non-operating pension and OPEB items	(78,814,000)	40,668,000	26,970,000
Windfield tax settlement			0
Legal accrual	657,412,000
Albemarle Foundation contribution	20,000,000
Indemnification adjustments	39,381,000
Other	28,553,000	4,593,000	19,655,000
Mineral Resources Limited Wodgina Project
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales	0	0
Net income attributable to joint venture	(32,800,000)	$ (20,100,000)	(73,000,000)
Mineral Resources Limited Wodgina Project | Stamp duty tax
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Acquisition and integration related costs	$ 61,500,000		64,800,000
Mineral Resources Limited Wodgina Project | Stamp duty tax | Selling, general and administrative expenses
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Acquisition and integration related costs			64,766,000
Mineral Resources Limited Wodgina Project | Stamp duty tax | Reportable Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Acquisition and integration related costs			64,766,000
Mineral Resources Limited Wodgina Project | Stamp duty tax | Reportable Segments | Lithium
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Acquisition and integration related costs			64,766,000
Mineral Resources Limited Wodgina Project | Stamp duty tax | Reportable Segments | Bromine
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Acquisition and integration related costs			0
Mineral Resources Limited Wodgina Project | Stamp duty tax | Reportable Segments | Catalysts
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Acquisition and integration related costs			0
Mineral Resources Limited Wodgina Project | Stamp duty tax | All Other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Acquisition and integration related costs			0
Mineral Resources Limited Wodgina Project | Stamp duty tax | Corporate
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Acquisition and integration related costs			$ 0