Goodwill and Other Intangibles - Other Intangibles (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Asset Value, Beginning of Period	$ 540,280
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	(9,582)
Gross Asset Value, End of Period	530,698
Accumulated Amortization, Beginning of Period	(231,333)
Amortization	(6,021)
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	4,063
Accumulated Amortization, End of Period	(233,291)
Net Book Value	297,407	$ 308,947
Customer lists and relationships
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Asset Value, Beginning of Period	428,379
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	(9,652)
Gross Asset Value, End of Period	418,727
Accumulated Amortization, Beginning of Period	(163,283)
Amortization	(5,437)
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	3,560
Accumulated Amortization, End of Period	(165,160)
Net Book Value	253,567	265,096
Trade names and trademarks
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Asset Value, Beginning of Period	17,883
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	(117)
Gross Asset Value, End of Period	17,766
Accumulated Amortization, Beginning of Period	(7,983)
Amortization	0
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	70
Accumulated Amortization, End of Period	(7,913)
Net Book Value	9,853	9,900
Patents and technology
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Asset Value, Beginning of Period	57,313
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	(498)
Gross Asset Value, End of Period	56,815
Accumulated Amortization, Beginning of Period	(39,796)
Amortization	(368)
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	481
Accumulated Amortization, End of Period	(39,683)
Net Book Value	17,132	17,517
Other
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross Asset Value, Beginning of Period	36,705
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	685
Gross Asset Value, End of Period	37,390
Accumulated Amortization, Beginning of Period	(20,271)
Amortization	(216)
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	(48)
Accumulated Amortization, End of Period	(20,535)
Net Book Value	$ 16,855	$ 16,434

Finite lived intangible assets accumulated amortization foreign exchange impact.

No definition available.

Name:	alb_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortizationForeignCurrencyExchangeGainLossImpact
Namespace Prefix:	alb_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The aggregate expense charged against earnings to allocate the cost of intangible assets (nonphysical assets not used in production) in a systematic and rational manner to the periods expected to benefit from such assets. As a noncash expense, this element is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123570139&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388964&loc=d3e16225-109274

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Accumulated amount of amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of foreign currency translation gain (loss) which increases (decreases) assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsForeignCurrencyTranslationGainLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount before amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 928
-SubTopic 340
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6473545&loc=d3e61844-108004

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Sum of the carrying amounts of all intangible assets, excluding goodwill, as of the balance sheet date, net of accumulated amortization and impairment charges.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph ((a)(1),(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388964&loc=d3e16212-109274

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IntangibleAssetsNetExcludingGoodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=alb_CustomerListsAndRelationshipsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_TrademarksAndTradeNamesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=alb_PatentsAndTechnologyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_OtherIntangibleAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: